Kang’s True Nemesis Should Be the One Villain Thanos Can’t Touch

In Marvel Comics, Kang the Conqueror’s true nemesis should be the one villain Thanos has to leave alone. Information about this could be found in the Kang-centered one-shot Timeless. It was written by Jed McKay and illustrated by Kev Walker, Mark Bagley, and others.

Timeless is about Kang visiting Dr. Anatoly Petrov, an academic professor who specializes in supervillains. Petrov was about to write a book on Dr. Doom when Kang shows up, hoping to convince Petrov to write about him instead. To accomplish this, Kang invites Petrov to accompany him as they travel through time together. What Petrov learns is that Kang is not a simple villain. He is a competitor and a challenger, a man driven to win at all costs, and sometimes that just happens to put him in the role of villain.

However, there is another Marvel villain that is equally (or perhaps even more) obsessed with victory: the Elder of the Universe known as the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster, whose real name is En Dwi Gast, is obsessed with playing games and challenging people. The two have actually clashed before in the early pages of The Avengers. After Kang’s beloved Ravonna died, the Grandmaster appeared to Kang and challenged him to a game. Kang kidnapped the Avengers to be used as pawns against the Grandmaster’s Squadron Sinister. Kang won but, due to the Grandmaster’s trickery, ultimately lost to the heroes. Satisfied with this game’s conclusion, the Grandmaster then sent everyone back to their own time, including Kang.

This previous interaction had the Grandmaster seek Kang out, but as Kang has recently become a bigger part of the Marvel Universe, it might be worthwhile to have the Conqueror seek out the Grandmaster instead. Kang is a much different villain and person than their first go-around, so a rematch would please fans greatly.

Interestingly, there’s another big villain in the Marvel universe who is unable to challenge the Grandmaster, none other than Thanos. back in Thanos Quest #2, the Mad Titan struck a deal with the Grandmaster. This truce means that Thanos can’t interfere with the Grandmaster’s games and in return, the Grandmaster will stay out of Thanos’s way. Fans of the MCU would love this bit of Marvel Universe history.

Since Thanos is no longer a threat and Kang is entering the MCU more and more, it would be interesting to see Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster interact with Jonathan Major’s Kang, while also hinting that Josh Brolin’s Thanos might’ve played a role in their history.

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