We only saw a glimpse of what Kang is truly capable of in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Unfortunately for our heroes, the next time they encounter this saga’s big bad, he’s probably going to leave them with some serious battle scars — as many are set to fall beneath him in the upcoming Avengers movie. Kang hasn’t even used a fraction of his powers yet; if the MCU is going to faithfully adapt his character from the comics, then there’s not a lot he can’t do, his powers are nearly infinite. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few weaknesses that could be exploited.
Who is Kang?
Kang was born in the 31st century as Nathaniel Richards, and yes, he is related to Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic, one of the smartest beings in the Marvel universe. Nathaniel inherited the incredible intelligence of his ancestor, and as such, was able to reverse-engineer a time machine that allowed him to travel freely through time. His astonishing intellect is one of his greatest powers. There aren’t many who are smarter than him, meaning he is often able to outwit the Avengers. However, he isn’t as smart as Reed Richards himself, so there is some hope.
He is also a master tactician and has successfully implanted himself as a general or politician across multiple timelines, most notably as Victor Timely, who we’ll be seeing more of in the next season of Loki. His knowledge allows him to destroy his enemies easily and his military know-how has allowed him to be massively successful in his quest to conquer everything.
What physical abilities does he possess?
His intellect isn’t his only forte, as he is more than capable in hand-to-hand combat, even being able to hold his own against Captain America. Due to being born in a time with great medical advancements, Kang is biologically stronger than most, has a longer lifespan, and is believed to be over 70 years old — although he has the physicality of a 40-year-old. His physical strength is further enhanced by his suit, which protects him from all sorts of physical assaults. He can cast force fields around himself that can even withstand attacks from the God of Thunder himself.
In fact, most of Kang’s power comes from his suit, which he has continually developed since he first discovered time travel. On top of making him stronger, it links with his consciousness and allows him to do things such as moving objects with his mind and flying with the hover pads he has fitted into his boots.
Kang has the advantage of being able to travel to any time period, allowing him to gain the experience and technology necessary to conquer worlds. On top of that, there are many variants with different powers that make him an almost unstoppable force. Kang often works with his variants as they all banded together to form the Council of Kang, where all the variants of Kang shared their knowledge and technology with each other. This gives him an edge Thanos never had as he can communicate with other versions of himself from the multiverse and learn how best to defeat his enemies.Â
So what can’t Kang do?
Well, in fairness, most of his power comes from his suit. Take that away and you’ve got a jacked-up guy with a high IQ. That’s not to say he’s invincible when he’s in the suit. Although he can hold his own against Captain America in hand-to-hand combat, he did ultimately lose to Steve Rogers in the comic book version of The Kang Dynasty. His strengths lie in his mastery over time and his strategies — in a one-on-one fight with the strongest Avengers, he will likely lose even with his suit.
He also has a strict code he sticks to, and as a result, he has often refused items such as the cosmic cubes that would aid him in conquering as he prefers to do it the conventional way. It’s because of this that he won’t go back in time and kill his enemies when they are young. Although it’s a limitation he’s placed upon himself, it still counts as something he can’t or won’t do, which could give the Avengers a fighting chance.
Hopefully, the MCU Kang lives up to the high expectations that have been set by his comic counterpart. He’s an almost unstoppable force when he’s at full power and has even defeated Thanos without breaking a sweat before. So when the time comes for him to wreak havoc in the MCU, we know it will truly be a sight to behold.
