Kang The Conqueror Inverts Thanos’ Fatal MCU Weakness

Kang the Conqueror and Thanos share a major weakness in the MCU, the former because he relies on something and the latter because he lacks it. As the Multiverse Saga gets closer to the climactic Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, Kang’s variants continue to reveal their strengths and potential weaknesses through both ominous threats to the multiverse and humiliating defeats. Once Earth’s Mightiest Heroes find out about the Council of Kangs’ existence, they will need to focus on the latter in order to protect the multiverse.

Thanos still stands out as the most dangerous enemy the Avengers have had to face in the MCU. While there have been other antagonists who are technically more powerful, Thanos is more determined, more ruthless, and a better strategist. But now that Thanos has been defeated, Kang the Conqueror is set to match or even surpass the Mad Titan’s villainous achievements due to his cruelty, knowledge, and mastery over futuristic technology. However, Kang has a similar weakness to Thanos, whose downfall arrived when he ignored an external variable seemingly out of his control.

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Kang’s Strength Is Technology, But Thanos Is Defeated By It

Thanos claimed an indisputable victory over the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Xandar, Asgard, and the rest of the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, where his plan to gather the Infinity Stones and wipe out half of all life was a resounding success. Even after the surviving Avengers killed him, Thanos’ triumph was virtually irreversible. That is, until the Avengers came up with the unlikely invention of time travel, which not only allowed them to bring Thanos’ Snap victims back but also let the Avengers kill Thanos and his army a second and final time. Therefore, Thanos’ plan was impeccable, but it didn’t consider the idea of cutting-edge technology retroactively messing up his plan.

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On the opposite extreme, Kang the Conqueror and his variants have relied on inconceivably advanced technology to shape time and the multiverse. The main Kang variant, officially introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, allegedly destroyed countless universes with his tech before getting trapped in the Quantum Realm, where he still used technology to take over the microscopic dimension. However, technology was also Kang’s downfall, as he was left as vulnerable as any regular human after MODOK damaged his suit, leaving him open for attacks by Hank Pym’s ants and Scott Lang. Kang was then defeated during Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s ending when Ant-Man threw him inside his own multiversal engine.

Do All Kang Variants Need Tech To Have Superpowers?

Nathaniel Richards’ lack of superpowers makes him as vulnerable as it makes him terrifying. Thanos could crush most, if not all, members of the MCU’s Council of Kangs in a one-on-one fight like he did with the Hulk in Avengers: Infinity War. Yet, Kang has proved that he doesn’t need any superpowers to become a multiversal threat. Some Kang variants have developed animalistic features and others have integrated technologic upgrades into their bodies, but all of them have the same human origin. Vastly different variants like Rama-Tut, Immortus, and Victor Timely owe their varying power levels to technology. Still, Kang the Conqueror may be even more powerful than Thanos when he has access to his gear, but the Avengers could easily defeat him if they find a way to remove it.