Back Issues: Kang the Conqueror Is Ready to Take Over the Timeline

Now that we know Loki is about to dive head-first into the world of time travel — combined with the fact Marvel Studios has confirmed Kang the Conqueror is on the way — the stars are aligning just right to see the iconic Marvel baddie sooner rather than later. In fact, some suspect we can see the time-traveling villain during the events of Disney+'s Loki, since the show's marketing has already revealed a handful of characters closely tied to the character's Marvel Comics history.

Kang is a name synonymous with time-traveling stories at the House of Ideas, and the character's history is just as convoluted as you might expect from someone engrained in timeline-jumping weirdness. As such, we're going to do what we can to explain to you just exactly who Kang the Conqueror is, who he's been in the past, and who he'll be in the future. To do so, we're going to start at the earliest point of the Marvel Comics canon and go chronologically through his history, even though that's not how it's been told in the source material.

At the mercy of Rama-Tut!

Throughout the history of Marvel Comics, several characters have donned each of the superhero monikers. In an example, Steve Rogers, John Walker, Bucky Barnes, and Sam Wilson have all been called Captain America. Ten times as many characters have been called Thor throughout the years, or so it seems. If you think that's crazy, Kang has been depicted in dozens of ways, with nearly 50 different versions of the character having appeared from alternate realities or other characters deciding to call themselves Kang.

Because of that, we're focusing on the primary Kang most Marvel fans reference: Nathaniel Richards. Despite having been born in the 30th century, Richards first appeared in Fantastic Four #19 (October 196#) as Rama-Tut. As the story goes, Richards — who may or may not be a direct descendant of Reed Richard's father, also named Nathaniel — became infatuated with Egyptian mythology. He then traveled backed in time to become the Egyptian pharaoh Rama-Tut. Comic villains, am I right?

As fate would have it, the Fantastic Four — who also travel back in time in an attempt to right the timeline — foil Richard's plans, and he want back to the future, until...

Kang, the Conqueror!

Fast forward nearly a year in Marvel's publication schedule and Richards returned to print. Now donning the name of Kang the Conqueror, Richards pivoted from being an opponent of the Fantastic Four, and instead battled the Avengers — a group that consisted of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp, and Rick Jones at the time.

It's during this time Kang come into his own in a multi-issue arc, setting up as a formidable opponent against Marvel's most popular stable of characters. Shortly after his first story arc in the main Avengers title — which started with Avengers #8 (September 1964) — the character returned for another story arc primarily set in his own time.

It's here — Avengers #23 (December 1965) — readers are introduced to a character named Ravonna. A princess of a kingdom he ruled over in his own time, Kang tries to woo her but doesn't initially succeed. This character goes on to become Ravonna Renslayer and, as we know by now, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is playing a character named Judge Renslayer in Loki.

Sometime after this, Kang then comes back with his eyes set on a character called the Celestial Madonna. One thing leads to another, and it's eventually revealed the Celestial Madonna is actually Mantis, a member of the Avengers at the time. While they likely aren't adapting that storyline for the MCU, it's right around the Avengers also run into...

The truly different villainy of the evil Immortus!

Long before readers were introduced to Ravonna Renslayer, the Avengers faced off against a new villain called Immortus. First appearing in Avengers #10 (November 1964), it was thought this character was an all-new threat for Earth's Mightiest Heroes to fight. Well, not entirely.

Even though "Prime Kang," if you want to call him that came from the 30th century, Immortus is a character from even further in the future. Done his luck due to personal losses he suffered in his life, Kang reinvented himself as Immortus, partially due to his newfound immortality. If you weren't already wowed by this character's journey through time, Kang's gift of immortality was given by the Time-Keepers, a group of beings created in the last moments of the universe.

Serving as an agent of the Time-Keepers, Immortus is charged with monitoring the timeline from 3000 BC to 4000 AD, making him responsible for the timeline issues previous versions of himself had created. In addition to Judge Renslayer's inclusion in the series, the Time-Keepers have also been namedropped. Loki himself even references the characters as "space lizards," and you see massive statues of them in the TVA Headquarters in the film's marketing.

In closing...

This is virtually just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to breaking down who Kang is, but the three versions of the character mentioned above are by and large the most popular of the character. In addition to alternate reality versions of the character, he's even played Iron Lad, Scarlet Centurion, Victor Timely, and plenty of others.

Whereas the Mephisto speculation surrounding WandaVision was fandom connecting a bunch of imaginary dots, there's cold hard evidence the arrival of Kang, Rama-Tut, or Immortus is a legitimate possibility in Loki. In addition to the characters the character is often associated with, the plot of Loki lends itself to the character's inclusion. On top of that all, Johnathan Majors was also cast as the time-traveling baddie far in advance of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the movie he's supposed to debut in.

Loki debuts on Disney+ beginning Wednesday, June 9th.

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