As Ant-Man 3 continues its theatre run, Marvel Studios is slowly beginning to address more details regarding Jonathan Majors‘ Kang sequences, including the futuristic variant that many believe to be Scarlet Centurion. In fact, its director Peyton Reed has offered some important insight into the post-credits scene, which references the Kang council.
While Loki’s He Who Remains stands as Kang’s debut in the MCU, it’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania that has kick-started Phase 5’s multiverse war arc which puts Kang variants at the center of the conflict as this saga’s main villain. The third installment introduces The Conqueror as a version, banished by the council to the Quantum Realm where the concept of time and space is irrelevant, nullifying Kang’s central ability that utilizes time travel.
Ant-Man 3 is upfront about Kang’s banishment since it plays around by teasing his Nexus being status until eventually confirming it in the post-credits scene. Multiple versions of the multiverse villain are shown but only a trio of them are in the limelight discussing The Conqueror’s death.
MCU fans and critics presumed the three Kangs to be Rama-Tut, Immortus and the futuristic variant Scarlet Centurion, the variants known in Marvel comics. Though it was never outright confirmed in the movie, the Ant-man 3 director recently spoke to IndieWire on the versions showcased in the ending.
“it was like, ‘Well, what if we give them a little taste of a version of Rama-Tut, a version of a Centurion, a version of Immortus?’ … In the movie, there’s a specific reason he’s been banished and exiled into the Quantum Realm, so it sort of begged the question of, ‘Well, who exiled him?’ I was trying to set up some version of a Godfather-esque mafia thing of like, ‘Oh, who’s triumphant? Who’s discussing the guy who’s no longer with us? And what does it mean to the larger sort of political body of the Kangs?’”
Who is Scarlet Centurion from Ant-man 3’s post-credits scene?
Scarlet Centurion is originally introduced as Kang’s 23rd son in the comics. Similar to the conqueror, his blue cyborg-esque suit has abilities to stall time, hover etc. He’s known for his confrontation with The Avengers.
In another interview, Reed also hinted that these three Kangs were focused as an indication of their future role in the MCU, so it seems the trio would be essentially the face of the Kang Dynasty. Though it’s unclear if this would be their official design going forward or if could it be reworked in the future, as Marvel Studios did with Thanos.
Kang will next appear in Loki season 2, as indicated in Ant-Man 3’s second post-credits scene. But it remains to be seen if it would be what this variant would bring to the table.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently in theaters.
