How ‘Loki’ Teases Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror

Loki debuted on Disney+ this morning, welcoming us to the strange new world of Marvel‘s Time Variance Authority. The TVA (as it likes to be called) tasks itself on upholding the Sacred Timeline. Which means they had no problem apprehending the rogue version of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who absconded with the Tesseract in the middle of the Avengers’ time heist in Avengers: Endgame. Loki barely has time to breathe in Mongolia before Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) and her TVA agents apprehend him. At the TVA, Loki soon learns he’s not so much filled with “glorious purpose” as he is just a “pussycat” in the grand scheme of time traveling villains.

The main thrust of Loki seems to be pairing Loki with Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) as they try to track down a specifically dangerous Variant of…SPOILER ALERT!…Loki. This version of Loki has gone rogue from the Sacred Timeline and is killing the TVA’s Minutemen left and right. Mobius hopes our Loki Variant can help provide meaningful insight into apprehending the time fugitive.

However from the jump, Loki opens the door for the introduction of an even more exciting villain: Jonathan Majors’s Kang the Conqueror. So will The Lovecraft Country star show up in Disney+’s Loki? Or is this just another fan theory that’s as doomed as all those Mephisto ones? Here’s everything we know about Jonathan Majors and Loki….

Who is Jonathan Majors Playing in the MCU?

While Marvel hasn’t officially confirmed that Jonathan Majors is playing Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Variety did confirm in September 2020 that Majors will be playing a “key-role” in that third Ant-Man film. When Variety broke the news, they added that their sources were fairly confident that Majors (seen above in HBO’s Lovecraft Country) would be playing Kang the Conqueror.

Kang the Conqueror is a major villain in the Marvel comics. Born Nathanial Richards (as in, he is a descendent of Fantastic Four found Reed Richards) in the 31st century, he uses time travel technology to hop around various moments in history with the goal of conquering time itself. Of course it’s more complicated than that and, as you’d expect, there are “Variants” or a ton of different versions of Kang himself. Some good, some bad, some based in Ancient Egypt. It’s a lot!

Kang’s a fascinating, complex, and brilliant villain with ties from everyone to the aforementioned Fantastic Four to Black Knight (who Kit Harington is playing in this fall’s Eternals) to a certain Ravonna Renslayer, whom Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays in Loki.

Is Jonathan Majors the in Loki Cast?

Not yet! Decider can confirm that Jonathan Majors doesn’t appear in either of the first two episodes of Loki sent to critics to preview before the show’s Disney+ premiere. Nor has Marvel confirmed that Majors will appear in Loki. 

However, Loki Episode 1 “Glorious Purpose” features some moments that foreshadow the arrival of Kang the Conqueror (along with some potential MCU Phase 4 storylines). When Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) explains the concept of the TVA, she sets up the idea of a multiversal war, which is something Kang is ALL about. Later Owen Wilson’s Mobius introduces the idea that he specializes in pursuing dangerous Variants. Note that is plural and he could have way more enemies to chase than just rogue Lokis. You know, like all those darn Kangs! Finally, there is the fact that Judge Renslayer is Kang’s “love interest” in the comics. And by “love interest,” we mean that he pines for her so much that he kidnaps the Avengers to impress her. It does not work. No, because it’s kind of creepy.

Why Could Jonathan Majors Still Show up in Loki?

Besides all the reasons we stated? BESIDES FORESHADOWING!?!

Well, in the spirit of the TVA, let’s look at the timeline. It was announced that Jonathan Majors would play (probably) Kang the Conqueror in the third Ant-Man film in September 2020. However, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is still in preproduction. Shooting started in earnest earlier this year, but principal photography doesn’t kick off until next month. So why announce such a big casting coup so early?

Maybe because Loki presumed production in September 2020? It’s a stretch, sure, but maybe the timing of the news that Jonathan Majors would be playing Kang the Conqueror was timed to when he was cast in the role for a juicy Loki cameo. Marvel has done a really good job introducing some fun cameos into their Disney+ shows. Some performers, like Evan Peters in WandaVision, leaked ahead of time, while others, like Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, were complete surprises.

Maybe Jonathan Majors will be introduced as Kang the Conqueror in the back-half of Loki? Let’s not say we’re counting on it, but that we wouldn’t be surprised…

Where to stream Loki