“Kang gotta Kang”: Jonathan Majors “plays hard” as Marvel Studios’ ‘Ant-Man’ threequel baddie

While critics were lukewarm at Marvel Studios’ 31st film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, most agreed that a highlight was Jonathan Majors‘ performance as Kang the Conqueror.

At a recent press event, Majors explained how he prepared to play the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest antagonist — which he first did as a variant of his Ant-Man character, this one known as He Who Remains, in Loki.

“You can’t antagonize somebody if you don’t know who they are,” the acclaimed actor explained. “If you don’t know, what’s the opposite of them, if you don’t know what their hopes and dreams are. My objective is to do that, antagonize in order to get what I need to fulfill my life, my dream. And so in Loki, I’m dealing with Tom. This opportunity came to me in lockdown. And so I studied Tom Hiddleston for hours a day, you know? And then when that was done, I went, ‘Okay, Paul Rudd, you’re up!’ You know?”

He continues, “You really have to be very clear about what it is you’re doing, who your character is, the spine of the character, what he’s about…what they’re going after. So you build that. And the rest of it, you just play hard…And if they…turn left, you turn it left, you know…and you’re in.”

He adds with a laugh, “You know, Kang gotta Kang.”

After-credit scenes proved we haven’t seen the last of Kang the Conqueror, who will be a part of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is slated for a May 2, 2025, release.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania had a $225 million global debut over the weekend.

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