With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s release date fast approaching, viewers have been trying to pick apart the promotional materials for any hints or reveals. So far, Marvel has revealed that M.O.D.O.K. is appearing in the film, teased Ant-Man’s (Paul Rudd) death, showed Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) suit up, and hinted at Kang the Conqueror’s (Jonathan Majors) motive. What viewers are really excited about, though, is Kang. He is slated to be the major villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania after first making his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut as the variant, He Who Remains, in Loki.
In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is considered one of the most powerful supervillains in the Marvel universe. He is set apart from other villains in that he is one of the few who actually temporarily succeeded in world domination. With his genius-level intellect, futuristic technology, and time-travel capabilities, there is little he can’t do. Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will not be Kang’s last appearance in the MCU. He is shaping up to have a major role in Phase 5 and Phase 6, with Phase 6 concluding with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Hence, we’re very curious to see what aspects of his comic book counterpart he will retain and how the MCU is setting him up for a large-scale rise to power. So far, we’ve been interested to see him wear his classic blue suit from the comic books and already sporting battle scars on his face. However, he is also already armed with more than his powerful futuristic suit. In exclusive first-look images released by Empire Magazine, Kang is seen sitting in a chair. At first glance, it seems to be just a futuristic-looking chair, but comic fans will recognize it as his time chair.
What is Kang’s time chair and what powers it?
As said above, Kang the Conqueror has a lot of technology at his disposal. However, his time chair is truly his biggest source of power and resources. After all, Kang the Conqueror is human with no innate power. All of the power he has attained, like his ability to access technology from any century and to dominate worlds, comes from his ability to time travel. Meanwhile, it is his time chair that gives him the ability to travel through space and time. In addition to space and time travel, he can often be seen using the chair for flight and defensive purposes, such as generating powerful force fields.
What it does is pretty simple, but how it works is less so. In the comics, Kang used the chair to travel through time, even once going back in time to study Steve Rogers during World War II. The closest readers got to understanding the inner workings of the technology, was when it was revealed the chair was actually based on 21st-century Stark technology. However, the MCU may have already revealed what powers Kang’s chair: Pym particles. In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) merged his technology with Hank Pym’s (Michael Douglas) Pym particles, with the combination allowing him and the Avengers to achieve time travel through the Quantum realm.
Kevin Feige also teased Pym particles being the source of Kang’s time chair’s powers. He told Empire Magazine: “Kang’s a very powerful person, but when we meet him he’s in a position where he needs to get that power back. He has a ship and a device that would allow him to go anywhere, and anywhen he wants if he can get it online. If only he had access to genius scientists with Pym particles.”
With its time travel capabilities, Kang’s time chair is the key to his rise in power. In the MCU, it seems as if Pym particles are the key to powering Kang’s chair.
(featured image: Disney)
