Jonathan Majors revealed his main goal for playing Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The new big bad will follow Josh Brolin’s Thanos in being the leading antagonist for the whole MCU across the Multiverse Saga.
But how can Majors ever stack up against Thanos? Well, for one, as the actor previously mentioned, “[his] assignment is different, and the character of Kang is different.” So it seems that the man behind the Conqueror isn’t too afraid of feeling repetitive or living up to the Mad Titan’s legacy.
When it comes to making his own mark on the MCU, Majors has one goal for suiting up as the Marvel antagonist.
Jonathan Majors’ Goal for Kang
In an interview with Nerdbunker, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actor Jonathan Majors talked about portraying the villainous Kang the Conqueror.
One of the first tidbits he unveiled was how his main goal with Kang, as well as with every role he plays, “is to make them as universal and as human as possible:”
“I think with Kang, my objective with every role I play is to make them as universal and as human as possible. I think we’d be lucky, you know, for these next phases to have a big bad that also allows the audiences to oscillate between cheering and booing.”
Majors complimented Josh Brolin’s Thanos by pointing how how “three-dimensional” the actor made him:
“What Josh Brolin did so beautifully with Thanos was that he tried to make him as three-dimensional as possible to make it very clear, you know, and he really believed in it. Which is why I think it was so morally ambiguous as to how bad he is. And I also think that the word villain, and the more anti-hero-hero you are, the deeper your constitution has to be.”
He then went on to declare that, thanks to his position as Kang in the MCU, he “might be the luckiest actor:”
“From an acting standpoint, it’s a lot of fun because—I don’t just play Kang in the world, you know. I have other projects, and other movies going on, which is cool because I have an opportunity to do the work, you know, in multiple different worlds. It’s super fun stuff, you go, okay, I wonder how we can—because you know, in my world, between the two, where are they different, where are they the same, and that’s really exciting too. I feel like I might be the luckiest actor.”
How Will Kang Improve Upon Thanos?
Jonathan Majors has been very vocal about his passion for Kang, something that has no doubt impressed many fans.
He also seems acutely aware of the shadow that Josh Brolin’s iconic performance as Thanos has cast and all of the expectations that come with trying to live up to it.
While Majors’ villain may have first been introduced in Loki, it’s Quantumania where the character will truly be seen for the first time. No longer will it be the peace-advocating He Who Remains—it’s time for the Conqueror to come out and play.
With the actor able to embody so many different Variants of the same character, he’ll be able to explore the villain on an extremely deep level, and in a way, Brolin was simply unable to with what he was given.
What would really be neat is if Marvel Studios surmised a situation where Josh Brolin’s Thanos and Jonathan Major’s Kang were able to interact. Thankfully, a movie event like Avengers: Secret Wars opens up an endless amount of possibilities to do whatever Marvel Studios could ever want to do.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17, 2023.
