Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently a hit in cinemas. As you probably already know, the film, directed by Sam Raimi, explores the concepts of the multiverse. The opportunity for Marvel Studios to offer appearances of all kinds, without consequence for the classic continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). However, there is a major absentee in the film. The screenwriter of the series Loki, Michael Waldronreturns to this remarkable absence.
WARNING: this article contains spoilers concerningyou Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Do not continue reading if you do not want to read it.
Who is the main absentee from the film?
Kang the Conqueror is conspicuously absent from Doctor Strange 2, and an extremely famous character among comic book readers. Indeed, this cult antagonist is a recurring opponent of the Avengers, Dr Strange and the Fantastic 4. Created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Kang is a complex character who travels through time and the multiverse to try to improve his own future. Basically, he is a brilliant scientist who invents an armor that allows him to travel in time and in different universes. In the comics, Kang has multiple identities, but his most famous is Nathaniel Richards., the father of Red Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four. He was born on Earth-6311, a different universe than the MCU, which features Earth-616.
In the MCU, the character makes his debut on the occasion of the series Loki, as comedian Jonathan Majors. The famous antagonist, who keeps his real name a secret, appears at the very end of the series, for an explosive and exciting final episode. During the climax of the show, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) go to meet Kang. Despite his warnings, Sylvie decides to assassinate Kang. A terrible decision for the multiverse. In effect, this Kang was the head of VATand watched over the good continuity of the multiverse. It also protected reality against its own variants., much less reasoned than him. His death therefore entails a huge divide in the multiverse, which leads to the bursting of the temporal continuum and the chronology of the various universes. Themes very related to the subject of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, neither TVA nor Kang appear in Sam Raimi’s filmdespite all the connections that exist between the two productions.
Why isn’t Kang in the game?
During a podcast appearance Hero Nation of deadline, the screenwriter of the series Loki, Michael Waldron, explained why Kang does not appear in Sam Raimi’s film. He indeed clarified that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness mainly focuses on The Scarlet Witch. She is the main antagonist of the story. Marvel Studios and Sam Rami therefore did not want to steal the show by putting here and there references to Kang as the true great enemy of the multiverse. Michael Waldron also feared that linking Kang to the Multiverse of Madness does not lead to an overload of characters :
For me, we already had the biggest and best asset with Wanda. Working with Sam, we made the decision to make Wanda the antagonist of this film. It was exciting and it was the best opportunity to have so much fun with this character. She’s so tall in the movie. And I think if we had introduced Kang, as great as Jonathan Majors is, and as great as this character is, we would have risked that the movie might be overloaded.
But do not worry, Kang will be back soon. We already know that the character is going to be the big bad of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The famous antagonist could also appear in other productions of the firm. In any case, Kang will very soon have a terrible impact on the multiverse, which could cause it to appear in Doctor Strange 3. He should also be at the center of the plot of season 2 of Loki.
