How Loki's Villain Can Avoid Repeating The Main Problem With Thanos
Warning: SPOILERS for Loki finale, "For All Time. Always.”
At this point, it is still far too early to be certain of the MCU's next overarching narrative. Tackling the Infinity Saga wasn't clear until the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and currently, Phase 4 has only had four projects. But, while the events of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Black Widow were mostly self-contained, the ending of Loki will have massive ramifications for the franchise as a whole. Aside from the birth of the multiverse which will factor in projects such as What If...?, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the arrival of He Who Remains may have meant that Marvel Studios have already introduced the universe's next big bad.
Assuming that Kang the Conqueror indeed becomes the new collective villain in the MCU, comparisons between Kang and Thanos will be inevitable despite the difference in their circumstances and motivations. The Mad Titan was an effective antagonist, with directors Joe and Anthony Russo alongside writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely finding a way to make him compelling. But he's not without fault. There's an argument to be made that it would've been better had he been introduced properly before the events of Avengers: Infinity War. While the 2018 film was able to efficiently establish him as a worthy adversary to the Avengers, it wasn't able to fully delve into the character's origins due to the limited screen time. By the time Endgame rolled around, the focus had shifted to the heroes, with the film ending with Thanos' defeat. Given that, the character has somehow ended wrapped up his arc in the MCU and yet, there are still so many things that are unknown about him, including He Who Remains’ real origins story. Now, Marvel Studios can avoid getting into the same issue by introducing Kang the Conqueror gradually, not just to tease his existence, but actually reveal important information about him.
When Thanos made his first physical appearance in the MCU, it was through The Avengers' post-credits scene. Comic readers immediately recognized him, but by the time he properly arrived in Infinity War, his motivations had been changed. Since 2012, the villain had appeared numerous times in varying capacities, but the cameos didn't actually reveal anything substantial about the character other than his relationship with Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), and his eagerness to acquire the Infinity Stones. Now, while Loki didn't technically debut Kang the Conqueror, through He Who Remains, Marvel Studios has already effectively explained the villain's modus operandi. He's a time-traveling conqueror who caused the first multiversal war. And with the multiverse now unleashed, expect that something similar is looming to happen as the more evil version of He Who Remains pushes through with his attempts to take over other realities.
Because of the introduction of variants in the MCU, Marvel Studios can continue to build Kang the Conqueror's story without actually having to introduce him this early into Phase 4. As they did in the Loki show, they can use other versions of the character in upcoming projects before he supposedly debuts as the villain of Avengers 5. Despite having different backgrounds and personality traits, however, variants of Kang the Conqueror will essentially have the same core identity - so heroes who encounter different versions will still likely gain an idea of what it's like fighting the main MCU villain.
Loki will return for season 2 on Disney+.