Jonathan Majors Loves That Ant-Man 3's Kang Is A Villain With Shades Of Gray
Thus far, the Rotten Tomatoes reviews of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" have been nothing short of abysmal. Critics have lambasted the film for its bloated and messy narrative, inconsistent visual effects, and mediocre performances, and many have propped the film up as an example of the stagnant nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
Yet in this sea of overwhelming criticism, one aspect of the film has been continually praised by both critics and fans alike: Jonathan Majors' performance as Kang the Conqueror. Presented as the next major villain in the MCU and first introduced in the Disney+ series "Loki," Kang has emerged as an undeniable bright spot amid the chaos that is "Quantumania." His quiet, measured rage seems to be bubbling just below the surface every time he speaks, able to flip the switch between measured calm and dangerously volatile at a moment's notice. Kang is terrifying and captivating all at once and steals the spotlight whenever he's on-screen.
In spite of the atrocious response that "Quantumania" has received, it's clear that Majors' performance as Kang is one for the ages — something that Majors himself attributes to the gray nature of Kang's character.
Majors enjoys playing with the ambiguity and mischief of Kang's character
During an interview with "Good Morning America," Jonathan Majors was asked about how he "tapped into" the bad part of himself in order to play a villain like Kang, to which Majors replied that he actually doesn't know if Kang is all that bad, which is what makes the character so great in his eyes. "What I like about Kang is that it's quite up in the air. He's gray. Is he bad? Is he good?" the actor questioned. "He's definitely a villain based [on] the MCU. But if you keep it real, things become a bit ambiguous, and I like that about him. Nothing wrong with a little mischief."
This description is very similar to that of Josh Brolin's Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War," which depicts the mad titan as a villain with an understandable and powerful motivation (but a villain nonetheless). Though we do know that Kang's ultimate goal involves numerous variants of himself across the Multiverse, the specifics of his overarching master plan and the motives behind it are still unknown — making him a gray villain who could go down a variety of different paths, much to Jonathan Majors' delight.