Ant-Man 3 Theory: Kang The Conqueror's Fate Connects To Loki's He Who Remains
The Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off Phase 5 with the wildly imaginative "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania." In the film, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) faces his toughest foe yet in the form of Kang the Conquerer (Jonathan Majors). The character is a similar representation of the antagonistic being He Who Remains (from the Season 1 finale of "Loki"), and fans are starting to piece together how the two may be connected.
Both Kang and He Who Remains come with ominous messages for The Avengers, vowing to be unlike anything they've ever fought. They promise mayhem across the multiverse, presumably culminating in the highly anticipated "Secret Wars." After the cliffhanger ending in "Quantumania," it's safe to say we haven't seen the last of Kang and his unstoppable fury. The post and after-credit scenes revealed even more surprising details about the character and his appalling number of variants, who surely pose a dangerous threat.
While we learned plenty of new information about the Conquerer in "Quantumania," some things remain a mystery, leaving fans to speculate. On Reddit, they put their heads together to theorize how exactly Kang and He Who Remains are intertwined, and what that means for The Avengers and the fate of the multiverse.
Fans believe both are outcasts of the Council of Kangs
In the Season 1 finale of "Loki," we surprisingly meet a variant of Kang known as He Who Remains. He tells our heroes about the legendary Multiverse War, where Kangs fought against each other until He Who Remains restored the balance of time. However, after the latest "Ant-Man" film, fans are beginning to question his version of the events.
Some fans on Reddit believe Kang and He Who Remains are one and the same, like u/ed190, who noticed, "In Loki's finale you can see in He Who Remains' castle four statues with one that has been demolished. In the movie post credits you see three main Kangs and the fourth (Kang of the movie) is the banished one in the quantum realm." They also added a quote from He Who Remains himself ("reincarnation baby"), further implying that they're the same person. This is echoed by u/romanholidays, who believes they are merely separated by time itself.
Although, other fans have different theories, like u/Chemistryset8, who doesn't think Kang was ever on the Council and has instead been fighting them for a while. They also added, "And now it's out, my theory is that he's not dead, he'll absorb or harness the multiverse engine and use its reality warping powers to come back as the Beyonder." Could he then become the threatening entity he forewarned Ant-Man about?
One thing is certainly unanimous among fans, as underlined by u/cap4life52, who agrees with u/Chemistryset8, "I think your theory is spot on – that "deceased" Kang was def[initely] telling the truth. Him and He Who Remains def[initely] seemed to be staving off something worse." Perhaps that "something worse" is the Council of Kangs, who inadvertently created The Avengers' next fearsome enemy by outcasting him.