Theory: Loki’s TVA Villain Is Immortus, The Future Version Of Kang

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel’s Loki episode 5, “Journey into Mystery.”

Instead of Kang the Conqueror, the mastermind behind the TVA in Lokimay actually be Immortus, a future version of Kang in Marvel Comics. The leading theory is that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s villain is the man behind the curtain. While it does indeed feel like Marvel is setting the stage for the time-travelling Avengers villain, the villain Loki finds may not be the Kang audiences are expecting.

Long before it was reported that Lovecraft Country actor Jonathan Majors is playing Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3, it was rumored that the character would appear first in Loki, and then return as a greater threat in Ant-Man 3 and beyond. Theories about Kang being directly set up or introduced in Loki persisted, even when Majors denied knowing about any involvement in the project. After all, a series involving an organization of time cops policing the time stream does seem like the perfect place to work in a cameo for the greatest time criminal in the history of the Marvel Universe. Five episodes in, and Kang still hasn’t been namedropped – but it’s looking more and more likely that the theories about Kang being in Loki may be true. In fact, Kang could be the secret main villain.

After figuring out that the Time Keepers were a farce perpetrated by some unknown individual or group, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophie Di Martino) set out to discover their identity. With the help of three Loki variants, the pair got past the Void’s time monster and entered the hidden domain of the puppet master who pulls the strings of the TVA. It could be that in the Loki season finale, this person will stand revealed as Kang’s future counterpart, rather than the same villain at the root of Ant-Man 3.

Immortus in Marvel Comics Explained

Introduced in Avengers #10 in 1964, Immortus is one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ earliest villains. Calling himself the Master of Time, Immortus used his time travel capabilities to pit the Avengers against historical and mythological figures, and also engineered a number of other schemes designed to take the team down. The character ruled a dimension called Limbo, which exists outside of time. At some point, the Avengers reached the realization that Immortus is secretly another version of their other time-travelling foe, Kang the Conqueror.

Apparently, Immortus is an older Kang from a different timeline. In his lifetime, he conquered countless civilizations and achieved most of what he wanted for himself. Eventually, he found his way to Limbo and decided to make this pocket dimension his new base of operations. From there, he ruled time itself and had access to different timelines in the multiverse. But despite being more knowledgeable and having more command over the timestream than the prime Kang, Immortus still met defeat at the hands of the Avengers on numerous occasions. There were also times when he would work either with or against his younger self to beat the heroes.

Why Immortus Makes More Sense For Loki Than Kang

Based on what’s known about Loki’s villain, it makes much more sense for the show’s real antagonist to be Immortus. First of all, the implication of what Loki and Sylvie have learned is that some mysterious character created the Time-Keepers lie, and has been manipulating the TVA into doing their bidding since the beginning. What time traveler could be advanced and intelligent enough to pull off something as big as controlling the entire timeline? Kang is an option, but something as huge as this actually feels a bit over his head, especially for his first MCU appearance.

Immortus fits this bill a lot better, considering that he is the Master of Time in Marvel Comics. Kang is without question a competent and resourceful time traveler, but his future self is on a whole other level to him. As an older Kang, Immortus has been traveling in time a lot longer, and has accomplished a great deal over the years. In a way, he’s what Kang can become but isn’t quite there yet. Kang is a time traveler looking for power, whereas Immortus is the Master of Time who already has it. Since Loki’s villain is at the reins of the TVA, he certainly sounds more like Immortus than he does Kang.

Another clue that points to Immortus being Loki’s villain is the Void and Alioth in episode 5. The Void, which exists at the end of time, seems to be quite similar in concept to Limbo, the pocket dimension ruled by Immortus. Marvel using Limbo’s time monster, Alioth, as the guardian of the Void in Loki provides further evidence that the Void is the MCU’s take on Limbo and that the mystery character living in the Void is Immortus.

Why Immortus In Loki (And Not Kang) Is Better For Ant-Man 3

Immortus being the villain of Loki could be the best possible outcome in terms of what it would mean for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Using a version of Kang rather than the Kang helps Marvel set up the character, but also holds back a proper introduction to the character for Ant-Man 3. At the castle in Loki’s season finale, the two main characters can meet Immortus, who or may not be played by Jonathan Majors. While it seems reasonable that any version of Kang would be played by Majors, the Loki variants in the Void prove that any actor can play Immortus, who could turn out to be a Kang variant from an alternate future.

Then, Marvel can use the younger, primary version of the character in Ant-Man 3. This scenario would work best because it would allow Marvel to take Kang on a journey to becoming the Master of Time. In the movie, Marvel should show Kang as the ambitious, power-hungry time-traveler that fans know him to be in the comic books. That’ll be difficult for Ant-Man 3 to do if he already took over the timeline and created the TVA. Being Immortus and the Master of Time should be Kang’s endgame in the MCU – not how his story begins. It’ll be more interesting to see Ant-Man 3’s Kang as a person with goals and dreams, and not someone who already has everything he wants.

Through Loki, Marvel can give viewers a tease of what Ant-Man 3’s villain has the potential to be, while also saving his full life-story for later. Using the ultimate version of Kang the Conqueror before introducing the prime Kang would certainly be an interesting way of setting him up. Also, it’s worth noting that this complex approach feels appropriate for one of the most multifaceted and complicated characters in Marvel’s library.

Marvel’s Loki releases new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.

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