How Powerful Is Kang The Conqueror Compared To The MCU’s Thanos?

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Loki episode 6. 

Loki introduced Kang the Conqueror as the next major villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he may be even more powerful than Thanos. In the Loki finale, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Lady Loki (Sophia Di Martino), who goes by Sylvie, make it to the mysterious Citadel at the End of Time. At the Citadel, they discover that He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) runs the Time Variance Authority and created the Sacred Timeline. He Who Remains is a Kang the Conqueror variant who warns that an infinite number of Kang variants will start a Multiversal War if they kill him. But, of course, Sylvie ignores the warning, murdering him anyway and releasing the Multiverse.

Thanos (Josh Brolin) was the main adversary in the first three phases of the MCU. Ever since 2012’s The Avengers, the Mad Titan was behind the scenes, secretly influencing events. Though the character was pulling strings in the MCU, he made his biggest impact in Avengers: Infinity War, eliminating half the life in the universe. With the help of the Infinity Stones, Thanos’ deadly finger snap instantly dusted numerous MCU heroes. The Avengers eventually defeated Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, but only after the heroes traveled through time to reverse things. Also, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the hero that kicked off the MCU, had to sacrifice his life.

The introduction of Kang as Marvel’s next big bad brings the inevitable comparison with Thanos. Both villains are formidable. Thanos killed half of all life, and it required wild time-traveling shenanigans to defeat him in the end. Even without the Infinity Stones, the Mad Titan has super strength, a superior intellect, and a solid multi-cleft chin. On the other hand, Kang the Conqueror is a regular person. Though he lacks Thanos’ physical strength, he makes up for that in time-traveling capability, access to weapons from all time periods, and almost unmatched intelligence. After all, he did discover a way to put everything into one controllable Sacred Timeline. When comparing the two, one thing specifically stands out.

Kang’s time-traveling abilities trump anything Thanos can manage. As Miss Minutes (Tara Strong) says in the Loki finale when talking about He Who Remains, “He created all, and he controls all.” Yes, Thanos eliminated half the life in the universe, but he was carrying out his role on the timeline that the Kang variant put together. Though Thanos has been pulling strings in the MCU all along, that’s only because He Who Remains allowed him to. The Avengers defeated Thanos through time traveling, and He Who Remains’ mastery of time-hopping takes that weapon out of their arsenal. Kang has all the spoilers for everything that’ll happen in the MCU, making him nearly unbeatable. And even if one Kang is defeated, more are coming.

Though Kang has the potential to be the stronger villain, that remains to be seen. Other than the brief Loki appearance, there hasn’t been a lot shown with Kang. Meanwhile, the MCU dedicated its first three phases to the battle with Thanos and its fallout. If Kang in the MCU resembles the conqueror from the comics, who has many different forms and can access any time period he wants, the villain could put the Mad Titan to shame. But unlike Thanos, nothing about that is inevitable.

Loki will return in season 2.

About The Author

Bill Bradley
(523 Articles Published)

Bill is an experienced reporter who’s covered entertainment and fandom since 2014. He’s done everything from unearthing the discarded Game of Thrones pilot script in a library in Texas to finding out why Steve left Blue’s Clues. He also enjoys eating Taco Bell and drinking chocolate milk.

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