Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quatumania Star Paul Rudd Speaks Out on Jonathan Majors’ Role as Kang the Conqueror

Thanos may be gone, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is far from finished with iconic comic villains. Kang the Conqueror is making his way to the MCU in 2023, with Jonathan Majors portraying the villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Majors made his MCU debut in Loki, playing a character called He Who Remains, a variant of Kang. The version of the character that Majors played in Loki was playful and eccentric, but there’s a good chance his take on Kang is much, much different. 

Work has started on the new Ant-Man movie and Majors is actively bringing Kang to life. We won’t see him on the screen until 2023, but he’s already winning over his new MCU co-stars with his performance. This includes franchise cornerstone Paul Rudd.

“I’ve loved everything he’s done, and I see what he’s doing in this, and I’m knocked out by it,” Rudd told Variety. “It is really fun to bring new people into the fold, and the enthusiasm that people have is palpable.”

What Rudd is seeing is likely the villainous version of Kang that He Who Remains warned Loki and Sylvie about. Unlike his variants, Kang is bent on conquering time and space, hence the name.

The idea of variants allows Majors to tap into multiple different roles while really just playing one character. During an interview on Assembled: The Making of Loki, Majors opened up about how he crafted He Who Remains for the MCU.

“The archetype of the wizard and what happens to him when he gets bored and becomes a trickster. I think when we meet He Who Remains he’s on the borderline of those two things. You don’t really know where he’s at and I think the ambiguity of that is one of the wicked things about it,” Majors said. “He Who Remains has lived forever. One of the great things I got to experience with our costume designer is that every piece we decided on was from a different place. The cape I had on was from the Victorian era. The shoes were from Genghis Khan. The pants from Mongolia, etc. You just mix and match it together and it informs the character.”

We’re guaranteed to see Majors take on the role of Kang in 2023 when Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters, but it wouldn’t be toot surprising if we see another one of the villain’s variants pop up somewhere else before then.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives in theaters on February 17, 2023.