The new anticipated phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in full swing. The franchise introduced intriguing characters into the universe after the grand war against Thanos. This “endgame” saw the loss of quite a few notable heroes who sacrificed themselves to save Earth. However, a “good guy” in this universe is easy to find, and we got a couple of them gearing up for the big crossover.
‘Pinocchio’ Kdrama Cast: Where Are They Now? and Princess Shuri (Black Panther) are the notable ones till now. However, as the build-up slowly drives the timelines in one plot, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man brings out an interesting theory at the place through its new installment in the universe.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania introduced a mighty comic character named Kang the Conqueror, who will likely play a big role in the upcoming installments. In the funniest way, just like the Marvel comic fans, the MCU enthusiasts have ended up asking the question regarding Kang the Conqueror’s relation to none other than Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards.
You may ask – how did this question even come to the fray? Well, the series made on Loki introduced a character called Nathaniel Richards, whom we get to know as Kang the Conqueror. This is where it gets interesting; Mister Fantastic or Rees Richards might really be an important part of this MCU phase, or maybe not? Let’s find out!
Also Read: Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Review
Who Is Kang The Conqueror?
Nathaniel Richards is from the 31st Century. He is a scholar who always had a peculiar taste and determination inside of him. In fact, he had a kind of determination. He had failed to understand himself. However, this changed when he gained interest in history and got to know Victor von Doom’s time travel technology.
He decided to travel back in time to Egypt of the ancient period. He becomes the Pharaoh Rama-Tut, and as per comics, another version of him gets recruited by TVA (Time Variance Authority).
At first, the Fantastic Four barely defeats him. Nathaniel Richards decided to take the identity of Scarlet Centurion thereon and create terror in the world. He targeted the Avengers and shook up the timeline’s reality. However, the Avengers somehow manages to counter and defeat him. After that, he tries to go back to his timeline.
However, he mistakenly goes to a time that is more or less than 1000 years from his period. He realizes the technological advancements of the time and how the people are torn apart by wars and poverty. He easily takes over that world and slowly conquers the whole galaxy. He becomes the feared and dominant force on the planet, known as Kang the Conqueror.
Also Read: Kang The Conqueror: The Avenger Villain’s Comics History Explained
How Is Kang The Conqueror Related To Reed Richards?
There are many theories surfacing over this. However, we will cover whatever is known by facts and then come to a conclusion. If you didn’t know, in the comic, Fantastic Four Annual #2, Doctor Doom gets saved by Rama-Tut, the time-traveling villain who later becomes Kang the Conqueror.
Doom and Rama-Tut have an interesting conversation that brings up the theory that they are the same person. However, it was a popular belief indeed. This changed completely through John Bryne’s Fantastic Four #272 in 1984. Reed Richards seemingly tried to find his father and ended up finding Doom’s time machine in the abandoned laboratory of his father.
He discovered that his Earth’s timeline was different. The machine belonged to a period where technology was pretty advanced, and the situation over Earth in that period was extremely hostile due to war. Later on, he assumed that a mysterious visitor from an alternate timeline named “Warlord” was his father, as evidence suggested.
However, the next comic issue cleared out that Nathaniel Richards is not Warlord, but it was Nathaniel’s wife. This is where it gets a little weird. Nathaniel from that world stayed back to fix his world. Thereon, a fast forward tells the readers that he achieved his goal and created “heaven on Earth.”
However, in the future, a descendant of him got bored of perfectness and decided to go back in time and become Rama-Tut. This confirmed that Kang is from Nathaniel Richards’ timeline.
The writers decided to play with the readers as in one of the issues of “What If…?” Kang is Nathaniel Richards, who is named after his ancestors. Therefore, the “multiverse of madness” of Kang the Conqueror quite possibly leads to the most important part of this article – in that comic issue, Kang initiates a DNA test on Reed Richards of a different timeline and himself and finds out that they are related.
However, such theories have not yet taken place in the MCU, and interestingly enough, due to such storylines in comics, one may ask if the cinematic plot will go towards the direction of introducing the Fantastic Four and Reed Richards as a relevant blood connection to Kang the Conqueror. We can only wait and see.
Also Read: What Is Avengers: Kang Dynasty? Everything To Know About It
