Marvel Fan Theory Suggests Avengers: Endgame Created Kang

Thanos (Josh Brolin) is now out of the way and the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are taking a much-need breather. Before long, things will pick back up with Black Widow next May and Marvel Studios will have officially moved forward into its long-awaited Phase 4 slate of films. With Thanos now dust in the wind, fans are stumbling around trying to think of the next overarching villain Marvel will use and one new fan theory poses a pretty interesting scenario. According to the mind of /u/secsmachine, Avengers: Endgame was directly responsible for creating Kang the Conqueror.

Kang is a classic Marvel villain many fans — myself included — have been impatiently waiting to see in live-action, almost to a fault. That out of the way, the theorist has an objectively interesting point — the Avengers messed with the timeline more than once in Endgame. In fact, the movie even ended with a major character going back and disturbing the timeline for good. Hence the theorist's idea where Kang was created a time cop of sorts, brought into existence to right the wrongs of the Avengers and the time heist they went on in Endgame.

Kang the Conqueror is the Phase 5 villain. from r/FanTheories

Outside of the time manipulation itself, there's not really any existing supporting evidence to show Kang will be on the wow. Sure, Stark dropped his "mess with time," line, but it's not like any major Kang Easter egg was shared in a post-credits stinger. It should be noted, however, that Marvel Studios — and The Walt Disney Company — now own the live-action rights to the character once again as he is a part of the Fantastic Four stable of characters.

So far, the Phase 4 slate seems to be made up largely independent films set on introducing a whole new batch of characters to the MCU. It wouldn't be unlike Phase 1, where the big villain of the saga wasn't introduced until the last film in the group.

Avengers: Endgame is now available wherever movies are sold.

Black Widow is set to premiere on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Disney+'s She-Hulk, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel don't have release dates, nor does the cinematic reboot of Blade.

What characters would you like to see play the overarching villains of Phase 4 and beyond? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!