Man, there’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s just start with the basics. Marvel has apparently signed Jonathan Majors to star in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, joining Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly. If you don’t know Majors, it’s time to start paying attention. He broke out with last year’s Captive State and The Last Black Man in San Francisco, which led to him starring in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and HBO’s hit series, Lovecraft Country. He’s becoming a very big deal, and that’s why Marvel came calling.
Deadline reports Majors will be playing Kang the Conqueror, an A+ villain in the Marvel Universe, who has plagued the Avengers throughout the past, present, and future. Kang is a time traveler, obviously, and one who uses what he knows of the timelines to control everyone and everything around him.
The thing about Kang is that he has appeared in many different forms. His future self, known as Immortus, has also manipulated time to suit his own ends. But it’s Kang’s younger self, Iron Lad, that is of particular interest here. Iron Lad takes inspiration from Iron Man and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, becoming a member of the heroic team known as the Young Avengers.
As many have speculated in the past, we could be seeing the formation of the Young Avengers in the MCU. Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie, is also a member of the team. Over in the Disney+ series, WandaVision, Scarlet Witch and Vision appear to be starting a family. Their two children, Speed and Wiccan, are also members of the squad. Another team member, Kate Bishop, will be starring in the Hawkeye series on Disney+, as well.
It’s all coming together, isn’t it? All of the time manipulation that went on in Avengers: Endgame could have set this up, and I’m dying to see where it goes.
Ant-Man 3 will have a script by Rick & Morty‘s Jeff Loveness, and could open in 2022.
