Kang is coming.
Following variant He Who Remains’ debut in Loki, Jonathan Majors is about to make his mark as the actual Kang the Conqueror in this February’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. With each successive trailer, fans are becoming more and more convinced that Paul Rudd’s poor Scott Lang has absolutely zero chance of going toe-to-toe with the temporal tyrant and coming out alive.
Let’s be honest here, it’s not just Ant-Man who’s ill-equipped to deal with the MCU’s new big bad. You could make the case that the entire Avengers are not the world’s best hope against Kang as there are many superhero hero teams out there, both in the MCU and beyond, that would be much better-suited to make mincemeat out of the Multiversal maniac.
So let’s bench Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for the moment and argue the case for these other comic book groups who could definitely KO Kang.
The Marvels
As we’ve argued before, there’s the case to be made that the three superpowered women that make up the Marvels—the team that will form in this summer’s The Marvels, the sequel to Captain Marvel—are even mightier than the Avengers. Everyone knows Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers is the MCU’s biggest gun, but Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau/Photon (Teyonah Parris) are no slouches, either. If these three united to take on Kang in Secret Wars, the rest of the Marvel Multiverse might not need to show up.
The Seven
When fans discuss which superhero would beat whom, they often have to specify that the characters would have to put their ethics aside to win the match in question. That’s the thing—most superheroes aren’t really giving it there all because they’re holding back due to their precious morals. This is much less of a concern for The Seven, The Boys‘ own grimy answer to the Avengers and the Justice League. Homelander might not be fit to lick Captain America’s boots, but it’s hard to argue against the fact that he’d be a lot more help in a battle against Kang.
Watchmen
Much the same can be said about DC’s Watchmen, who likewise have a few too many murders under their belts to be considered true-blue superheroes. What makes the Watchmen (yes, nerds, their team name is technically the Minutemen, but literally no one but Alan Moore has ever called them that) even more of a threat to Kang than The Seven, though, can be summed up in two words: Doctor Manhattan. The big blue nudist basically served as the god of the DC Comics Universe since the Rebirth era so he could definitely handle even a dynasty’s worth of Kangs.
Young Avengers
That’s right, the next generation of the MCU’s heroes would actually be better suited to taking down Kang than their more experienced forebears. The teen team has yet to officially form, but if they can get their act together before The Kang Dynasty, then they might stand a chance of giving the Conqueror a run for his money. America Chavez is a genuinely unique hero who could rival Kang’s mastery of the Multiverse, Cassie will soon be a veteran of the Quantum Realm, and, most of all, they have a secret weapon: Their leader is Iron Lad—a noble variant of Kang himself. They do say that you’re your own worst enemy.
The Justice League
Yes, we’re going there: DC’s Justice League would do a better job KOing Kang than the Avengers ever could. This isn’t so much referring to the weak-sauce Snyder-Verse team that took four hours to handle Steppenwolf, but the traditional lineup at the height of their powers. The Flash has just as much history with altering timelines as Kang, Green Lantern has an entire army of willful warriors behind him, and, well, Superman is Superman. Kang might be able to shatter realities, but Supes could shatter his bones into dust before he got the chance. He’s also been known to punch through reality on occasion, so there’s that. If Kevin Feige really wants to blow our minds in Secret Wars, he’ll have the League come to the Avengers’ rescue. We’re sure James Gunn would oblige.