The first Avengers movie since 2019, Kang The Conqueror as its main villain sets up a superhero dynamic similar to that of Infinity War and Endgame.
Following the epic finale of the Infinity Saga with Avengers: Endgame, there were not many options as to where Marvel could take the Avengers next other than the multiverse. The only way to sur what was done in Infinity War and Endgame was by opening the doors to the infinite possibilities of the Marvel universe, which started in Loki and will be paid off in Secret Wars. Still, on top of the multiverse, the MCU has also brought Kang – and the time traveler villain will be the Avengers’ first opponent before Secret Wars.
teams in order to fight Thanos. The Kang Dynasty can do something similar based on the idea that fighting Kang involves engaging in different timelines all at once.
Infinity War Split The Avengers (& Solved Its Pacing Problem)
As the culmination of a decade worth of stories, Avengers: Infinity War had the largest set of characters of any Marvel movie or superhero film in general. The remaining Avengers, Captain America’s team of wanted heroes, non-Avengers heroes like Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, Black Panther’s Wakanda army, and the Guardians of the Galaxy all came together for what was Marvel’s most ambitious film up until that point. Most of the marketing for Infinity War revolved around the prospect of this massive crossover between all corners of the MCU, meaning that Infinity War had to deliver a story in which all of those heroes could shine.
How to give Vision and the Mind Stone in Wakanda. Thanks to that structure, Avengers: Infinity War avoided a pacing problem that could have doomed the film.
Endgame’s Time Travel MacGuffin Honored The MCU’s History
Avengers: Endgame used a similar strategy, although there were not as many characters involved as there were in Infinity War. This time, the decision to slip the Avengers into small teams was used more as a MacGuffin than as a pacing trick. To collect all six Infinity Stones and undo Thanos’ snap, the Avengers had to visit different points in the MCU timeline – but all at the same time. Having the Avengers once again split up but now revisiting important events from the MCU allowed Endgame to give all the original Avengers one final mission before the final battle against Thanos, not to mention how it paid homage to the history of the franchise. More than anything, the Endgame’s time-heist element made it so the film could have some sort of conflict other than fighting Thanos, as that had to be saved for the film’s third act.
Why The Avengers Will Have To Split Up To Fight Kang
While not much is known about Avengers: The Kang Dynasty yet, it is safe to assume that the Avengers will have to split up to fight Kang. In the comics, facing Kang The Conqueror usually means dealing with different points in history and different timelines. Kang never has an exact location, as time and place become relative when it comes to a time traveler villain. In the comics, Kang has assumed many identities throughout history, which is something the MCU could incorporate by having the Avengers face the villain in different eras. Another possibility is that the Avengers have to face multiple Kang variants across the multiverse, as the MCU’s Kang seems to be more tied to the multiverse than to time travel. Either way, the Avengers and the others involved in The Kang Dynasty will most likely have to fight more than just one Kang, therefore they will have to split up to have a chance at winning.
The Kang Dynasty Is Set To Repeat Infinity War & Endgame’s Heroes Trick
While some Avengers have died or retired in Endgame, Marvel’s Phase 4 already introduced several new characters that can make The Kang Dynasty a bigger crossover event than Endgame. There are more than two years for Marvel to continue expanding its universe before the next Avengers movie, not to mention the arrival of the Fantastic Four in 2024, which means The Kang Dynasty may have a set of characters as large as Infinity War and Endgame. Splitting the heroes into teams and giving each of those teams a mission would work both in of pacing and narrative. Instead of protecting or finding the Infinity Stones like in Infinity War and Endgame, the MacGuffin element now would be Kang himself – as the villain can technically be in more than just one place, timeline, or universe at a time. The MCU has grown to the point every Avengers movie now has to be a massive crossover event, which is why Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and perhaps even Avengers: Secret Wars, are bound to emulate the pacing and narrative tricks used by Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
