hile the MCU is still establishing a new overarching direction in the aftermath of Avenegrs: Endgame, it's safe to say Kang the Conquerer is going to be a big deal in the years ahead. Jonathan Majors debuted as a version of this iconic Marvel villain in the Season 1 finale of Loki, and the death of He Who Rmains merely sets the stage for more versions of Kang to plague the timeline.

So the question is, now that Thanos is gone, how much of a role will Majors' character play in the MCU moving forward? We know Majors will play Kang in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and we even got our first look at Kang thanks to a Comic-Con poster. But even the next Ant-Man movie is just the beginning of Kang's story.

If you're not familiar with Kang or why he has the potential to be the next Thanos-level threat to the MCU, we're here to shed light on this powerful villain and also explain the Season 1 Loki ending. These are the topics we'll be covering here:

• Loki Ending Explained: Kang's First Appearance
• Who Is He Who Remains/Kang the Conqueror?
• Kang's Origin
• Kang the Conqueror Powers and Abilities
• Kang's Many Identities
• Kang and the Young Avengers
• Kang the Conqueror Actor Jonathan Majors and Marvel Universe Connections
• Kang in TV and Games

Loki Ending Explained: Kang's First Appearance

In the Season 1 finale of Loki, Loki and Sylvie finally make it to the end of time (should that be capitalized?) to confront the mysterious figure behind the TVA, a.k.a. the Time Variance Authority. No, not the Time Keepers, who we learned a couple of episodes back were fakes, but the actual figure who has been overseeing the pruning of the Sacred Timeline: He Who Remains.

In this Loki episode, Majors plays the character as a fun figure, one who perhaps has gone a little bonkers living forever at the end of all time, knowing everything that is going to happen.

Well, to a point. As the episode proceeds, He Who Remains explains his backstory, but also that they are now reaching a moment in the timeline where he will no longer know how things are going to play out — a juncture that will finally free him of the self-imposed prison he has been living in as master of the timeline. And it's up to Sylvie and Loki to decide what comes next. At the same time, the one Sacred Timeline the Time Variance Authority has been maintaining under his watch will start to splinter into an untold number of timeline branches…

But first, about that backstory: He Who Remains explains that it all began with a Variant of himself, a scientist from the 31st century, who discovered that other timelines/realities exist. At first things were friendly as other versions, or Variants of this scientist, began to meet up across different timelines. But then some Variants turned to conquering, and the Multiverse War we learned about in Episode 1 began. In the end, He Who Remains… well, remained. As the winner of the war, he created the TVA to keep other timelines from branching into existence in order to avoid another multiversal conflict.

And so now He Who Remains wants out, and Loki and Sylvie have a choice: Become the new masters of the Sacred Timeline, or kill He Who Remains, which will bring about the multiverse once again and, inevitably, the return of an untold number of He Who Remains/Kangs who will wind up re-starting the war. Loki wants to take over, if only to avoid the inevitable conflict that will result from killing He Who Remains. But Sylvie wants to kill He Who Remains, choosing the chaos of a multiverse — and free will — over all else. After fighting Loki, she kisses him — and then pushes him back through time to the TVA before stabbing He Who Remains, who doesn't even fight back. We last see Sylvie at the end of time, contemplating her decision as the timeline branches and splinters into an infinite amount of variations — a multiverse.

The Loki finale ends with our title character landing back at the Time Variance Authority, but he soon realizes that it's a TVA seemingly from a different timeline, because Mobius and Hunter B-15 have no idea who he is. (Or is it that the Timeline Formerly Known as Sacred has been rewritten?) And then he sees it — a statue of He Who Remains, who now looks a lot like Kang from the comics. Is Kang the Conqueror now the master of time (and the TVA)? We'll surely find out in Season 2, which was revealed in post-credits tease that simply shows TVA paperwork being stamped with the words "Loki will return for Season 2."

Loki star Tom Hiddleston has since confirmed Season 2 will begin filming in Summer 2022. And we also learned at Comic-Con that Kang will play a huge role in future phases, with Phase 6 culminating Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Who Is He Who Remains/Kang the Conqueror?

It's not easy recapping the convoluted history of Kang the Conqueror. He's a villain who's gone by many names and many different motivations in his countless clashes with the Avengers and Fantastic Four. But through it all the basics have stayed the same. Kang is a man who sees himself as the rightful master of the world. Using the power of time travel and the most sophisticated weaponry his future world has to offer, Kang has repeatedly sought to rewrite history to his own whims and ensure his own rise to power.

Kang's love of time travel is exactly what makes him such a dangerous and seemingly never-ending thorn in humanity's side. No matter how often he's defeated, banished or even destroyed utterly, some version of him is always out there, waiting and plotting. In the Season 1 Loki ending, He Who Remains is clearly a Kang Variant, but apparently a more benevolent one than the Kang (or Kangs) we'll likely get moving forward in the MCU.

Kang's Origin

While the first appearance of Kang the Conqueror is featured in 1964's The Avengers #8, the character technically debuted a year earlier in Fantastic Four #19. We'll try to summarize Kang's confusing origin story as simply as possible.

Kang's real name is Nathaniel Richards. Originally a historical scholar from the 31st century (and possibly a distant descendant of either Reed Richards or Victor von Doom), Nathaniel discovers Doctor Doom's ancient time travel tech and uses it to travel back to the era of ancient Egypt. Crowning himself "Rama-Tut," he lords over his new subjects and uses his futuristic tech to make himself seem like a god. That is, until the Fantastic Four show up to end his reign.

After escaping to the 20th century, Rama-Tut meets Doctor Doom and uses Doom's distinctive armor as inspiration for his next supervillain identity, the Scarlet Centurion. However, he's again defeated by Earth's heroes and attempts to return to his own timeline.

This is where Kang the Conqueror is born. Richards accidentally travels forward too far in time, arriving in an era when human civilization has collapsed. As the only person left who understands the advanced but forgotten technology of the 40th century, the newly minted Kang is able to quickly conquer his new timeline and even extend his new empire beyond Earth's borders. Not content to be ruler of a futuristic empire, Kang begins a recurring game of toying with time and attempting to rewrite history to suit his own whims.

Kang the Conqueror Powers and Abilities

As an ordinary human from the 31st century, Kang has no innate superhuman powers. However, he's a gifted physicist and historian, using his knowledge of science and history to manipulate the timeline and accumulate power. His distinctive green and purple suit of armor (inspired by Doom's own armor) both enhances Kang's strength and allows him to survive in whatever inhospitable environments he may find. Kang has a time-ship that allows him to freely travel through the time-stream, and he's also assembled a vast army comprised of the best warriors from throughout history.

Kang also sometimes wields a ray gun that can sap a person's strength and willpower, along with various doomsday weapons only a 40th century tyrant could dream of.

Kang also seems to be functionally immortal. Because he's so fond of abusing the timeline for his own selfish ends, there are countless variations of Nathaniel Richards in existence. No matter how many times Kang is defeated, there's always another incarnation of the Conqueror ready to continue his crusade.

Kang's Many Identities

Kang is every bit as convoluted a character as one would expect from a man whose favorite hobby is manipulating time. But part of what makes Kang such a confusing character is that he's had so many different names and identities over the years. It doesn't help that these various characters weren't all originally conceived as being the same person, so a lot of these connections have been forged after the fact. If you're familiar with the comic book storytelling term "retcon," Kang is basically its living embodiment.

As we've already covered, Nathaniel Richards uses names like Rama-Tut and the Scarlet Centurion early on in his career as a time-travelling tyrant. But taking up the mantle of Kang isn't his last identity shake-up.

At some point in his long life, Kang gives up his name and his empire to instead forge an alliance with an advanced alien race known as the Time-Keepers. In exchange for true immortality, Kang agrees to preserve the timeline and ensure the Time-Keepers' rise to power. At that point he becomes Immortus. Ironically, his younger selves are responsible for much of the damage Immortus is tasked with undoing.

Kang has held other cover identities while masquerading as a 21st Century human, including a small-town mayor named Victor Timely (a nod to Marvel's previous title Timely Comics) and a business tycoon named Mr. Gryphon.

If all this isn't complicated enough, thanks to time travel these various incarnations of Kang basically coexist alongside each other and sometimes collude or wage war against one another. There's even an entire team of Kangs known as the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. Picture the Citadel of Ricks in Rick and Morty, but with less alcohol and self-loathing.

Kang and the Young Avengers

There's another notable incarnation of Kang who may well factor into the MCU at some point. The 2005 series Young Avengers introduces a team of teen heroes modeled after classic Avengers but with very different backgrounds and origin stories. The team's founder, Iron Lad, isn't a descendant of Tony Stark, but is actually a teen version of Nathaniel Richards from a splinter timeline. Kang attempted to travel back in time and rescue his younger self from a group of bullies who had left him hospitalized for months. Kang saves himself and gives the young Nathaniel an advanced suit of armor in the hope of hurrying along his transformation from ordinary man to Kang. But instead, young Nathaniel is horrified by his older self and travels back in time to form a new team of Avengers.

Ultimately, this version of Kang is killed and Iron Lad is forced to wipe his own memories and return to the future, restoring the proper timeline. But he leaves behind a copy of his consciousness inside his armor, which fuses with the broken remnants of Vision to form a new version of that iconic Avenger.

Iron Lad is an important Kang offshoot to know, given that Marvel is showing every sign of introducing the Young Avengers in the MCU.

Kang the Conqueror Actor Jonathan Majors and Marvel Universe Connections

After appearing in the Loki finale, we know Jonathan Majors will be back as Kang in Ant-Man 3 — but Kang's love of time travel and perpetual habit of returning to threaten the Avengers all over again make him perfectly suited to become a recurring antagonist across the MCU. It doesn't hurt that he has deep connections to so many different Marvel characters and teams.

As mentioned before, Kang may well be a descendant of Mister Fantastic or Doctor Doom. Both characters have certainly played a key role in his development as a villain. He also has connections to major characters on the cosmic side of the MCU. In the comics, Kang once competed with the Grandmaster for a chance at godlike power, and he attempted to claim the so-called "Celestial Madonna" (better known as Mantis) as his bride.

Decades after it was originally published, Marvel added more layers to the events of Fantastic Four #19 by revealing Nathaniel's true motivations for traveling back in time and becoming Rama-Tut. He was actually seeking out a young En Sabah Nur, the mutant destined to become Apocalypse, to crown him as his heir. He never succeeded, though Apocalypse turned out to be a chip off the old block in terms of harnessing futuristic technology and seeking to dominate the world.

With Kang now firmly linked to the Fantastic Four, Avengers and X-Men, Marvel forged yet another connection in the 2015 series Uncanny Inhumans. There, Black Bolt gives his son Ahura to be fostered by Kang, seeing the time-traveling tyrant as the only safe haven in a world growing steadily more hostile toward the Inhumans.

Kang in TV and Games

• TV: Given his status as one of the greatest Avengers and Fantastic Four villains, it should come as no surprise Kang has enjoyed a healthy career outside of Marvel's comics. His first animated TV appearance came way back in 1967's Fantastic Four animated series, with the episode "Rama-Tut" adapting the events of Fantastic Four #19. Whether as Kang or Rama-Tut, the villain has appeared in numerous other Marvel cartoons like X-Men Evolution and Avengers: United They Stand. He even had a brief cameo as Immortus in an episode of X-Men: The Animated Series. But Kang's most significant animated appearances have come more recently. He played a recurring role in both Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (voiced by Jonathan Adams) and Avengers Assemble (voiced by Steve Blum). He made his live-action debut in the Season 1 Loki finale.
• Games: Kang has appeared in F2P games like Marvel: Avengers Alliance and Marvel: Contest of Champions, but his most notable video game appearance so far has been in 2017's LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2. Kang (voiced by MCU veteran Peter Serafinowicz) serves as the main villain of the game and is also available as a playable character.

July 23, 2022: This story has been updated with the latest information about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

One of the hot topics among DC fans heading into San Diego Comic-Con was whether Henry Cavill would make a surprise appearance to announce that he would be reprising his role as Superman. Those hopes were dashed when he failed to turn up at today's Warner Bros. panel, leading to the speculation that someone else might don the famous cape.

Johnson seemed to confirm that Cavill wouldn't be returning to the DCEU when he responded to whether Black Adam could defeat Superman in a fight.

"That's a great question… don't threaten me with a good time, cause I'm going to answer that question," Johnson said. "Well, I will say, as you guys know, because we're all in deep with this mythology, and it's been an age-old question of who would win a fight between Black Adam and Superman. Pound for pound, they're pretty close. I guess it probably all depends on who is playing Superman; I'm just going to say that. I'll leave it at that."

John's response drew boos, as it seemed to suggest that the role was open and Cavill wouldn't be playing Superman again. Black Adam director Jaume Collet-Serra also confirmed that neither Superman nor Shazam would be appearing in Black Adam.

"Our movie is an original story. By the time the movie ends, he doesn't know who Shazam or Superman is," Collet-Serra told Deadline.

Nevertheless, Johnson is still hinting that Superman could return to the DCEU sooner rather than later, even if it's a different actor playing him. Speaking with IGN, Johnson brought up who else but Superman when he was asked what it really meant that the "hierarchy of power" in the DC Universe would be changing.

"The one who sits at the top of the DC Universe is Superman. The one who is scratching at his back is Black Adam," Johnson said.

Asked whether that dynamic would hold after the movie, Johnson said, "I think so. That's the fun part about the movies that we can make and being in the realm of DC and bringing life to a character who pound for pound is very close to Superman.

"And I always do like reminding people is that Superman has two weaknesses: Kryptonite and magic. Black Adam, one of his anchoring powers is magic. Now, there's a lot of other elements involved, but I will tell you that that has been one of the most gratifying parts about making Black Adam. And I'm right there with all the fans — what if? What if this happened? What if this guy met this guy? Or what if this guy met this woman? What if."

One way or another, Superman remains top of mind for many DC fans. Cavill's version of the character last appeared in 2017's Justice League, but 2021's Snyder Cut helped bring him back into the spotlight. Cavill himself has sworn that he's "still Superman" and that he hasn't given up on the role.

Looking ahead to the DCEU's future slate, Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods are both slated to arrive later this year, with Batgirl, Aquaman 2, The Flash, and Blue Beetle all arriving in 2023. The Flash is being framed as a major event for the DCEU, but it has been dragged down by the controversy surrounding Ezra Miller.

For now, Superman continues to be missing in action, and San Diego Comic-Con has done little to clarify the character's future in the DCEU. But hey, there's always Superman & Lois, right? In the meantime, keep an eye on everything announced during San Diego Comic-Con 2022 as the show continues.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Now that AMC has announced a spin-off starring Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira as Michonne (the news dropped at The Walking Dead's San Diego Comic-Con panel), the question becomes where has Rick Grimes been since he left the show back in Season 9.

During the SDCC panel, it was revealed that the six-episode show will "continue the journey and love story" of Rick and Michonne and debut in 2023, with the potential for more episodes to come beyond that.

Of course, when he left The Walking Dead originally, the plan had been for Lincoln to return for a Rick Grimes "movie" trilogy. That seems unlikely to happen at this point, but at the time of Lincoln's departure, it was reported that the films would be taking Rick, and us, to "a whole different corner of the world," according to EP/writer Scott Gimple, with "big evolutions of what we’ve been doing on the show, with the scope and scale of features."

At this point, how can The Walking Dead get bigger? We've seen large communities rise up and go to war with one another. We've witnessed massive herds, survivalist camps, dam explosions, and even cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta get overrun with hordes of zombies. So where will this all go next? Let's ponder…

Going Abroad

We don't have any story specifics in mind, but let's imagine that when we last saw him injured and being flown away on a helicopter, Rick was being taken out of the entire country. Like, overseas.

For one thing, it would solve the whole "Why doesn't Rick ever walk back home?" conundrum. Because even if he's taken a few states away – hell, even if he's taken to Canada – this is Rick Grimes. There's no way he'll decide to let his loved ones think he's dead. We saw Morgan walk all the way to Texas because he was anxious and insane. Rick Grimes has to be fully incapable of getting back to his friends and family. And it might take an ocean.

Also, one of the big reasons Andrew Lincoln left the series was because he didn't like being away from his family and shooting in Atlanta for nine months out of the year. So wouldn't it be easier if the new show was shot somewhere else? Somewhere in the U.K. or thereabouts?

Moving the show to a different country would also feed into everything Gimple and Lincoln used to say about the movies involving yet-unseen worlds, new corners, and things fans have been saying for years that they want to see in a zombie apocalypse. This project isn't a series of movies anymore, but it seems safe to say that some of the concepts from the movies will wind up on the series. (That's basically what happened with the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.) Giving us a look at the much larger world, outside of North America, would be a rad twist.

Also, there's really no other explanation for why Rick wouldn't have made it back to his daughter Judith by now (aside from him being dead, which obviously won't be the case).

The Cure

The Walking Dead has long taken flak over its lack of an endgame. There's no intuitive end point within the established story for this show. Back in Season 1, in a break from the comics, Rick's crew visited the CDC for a spell. Nothing came of it except to establish that everyone in the world was infected with a virus that turns them into zombies when they die, no matter how they die.

Another issue fans and critics have had at times was the show's reliance on cheap smoke and mirrors-style deception. From Glenn's faked death to… well, the trickery involving Rick not dying, the show's cutesy tactics for trying to fool its viewers have landed less-than-ideally.

What if, as a way to make it up to us, this show gives the zombie plague an actual stopping point? That's not to say everything ends with this, but what if Rick's adventure involves people trying to discover an actual cure? That's how you eventually end the entire franchise. Rick was last seen headed to a place that has access to military tech and medical supplies. Maybe it's a base, maybe it's a research facility. One thing's for sure: This group requires human specimens.

So the show could involve a cure or, in the very least, people looking for one. Either way, it's the only viable endgame option. Even if there are plans for the franchise to continue on for another decade. Here's hoping they use this opportunity to make that leap.

This story originally ran in November of 2018. It has been updated with the latest information about The Walking Dead universe.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN, a member of the Television Critics Association, and co-host of We Enjoy Wrestling. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

AMC has just dropped the first trailer for its newest series based on the best selling novel, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, of the same name at SDCC. It's set to release on Sunday, October 2 on AMC — right after The Walking Dead's series finale.

You have nothing to fear but yourself.

Anne Rice's #InterviewWithTheVampire premieres Sunday, October 2 on @AMC_TV and @AMCPlus. pic.twitter.com/f9E1PkJuF2

— Interview with the Vampire (@Immortal_AMC) July 23, 2022

AMC's show account tweeted the trailer with the caption: "You have nothing to fear but yourself."

Based on the trailer, the show seems to be a modern retelling of the novel and seems to have a cast that's to die for — with it including Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones), Sam Reid (The Newsreader), Bailey Bass (Avatar: The Way of the Water), and Eric Bogosian (Succession).

The show description reads, "Based on Anne Rice’s revolutionary gothic novel, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), and Claudia’s (Bailey Bass) epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Chafing at the limitations of life as a black man in 1900s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat’s offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion."

It continues: "But Louis’s intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestat’s newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement."

Published in 1997 by the late author Anne Rice, the novel was Rice's debut novel and a critical success — uniquely recounting vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac telling the story of his life to a reporter.

This show only adds to AMC's impressive catalog, like Better Call Saul, which is currently airing its final season, and new shows like a new The Walking Dead spin-off show starring Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira's Michonne.

Diego Ramos Bechara is a Freelance Writer for IGN, and he's a fan of all things Star Wars, Rockstar, Naughty Dog, and Batman.

You can follow him on Twitter @DRamosBechara.

Jordan Peele's third written and directed film Nope is projected to net a total box office opening of $44.5 million dollars, making it his third consecutive film to debut at the very top of the domestic box office, albeit at a lower stance than 2019's Us, Variety reports.

But even that doesn't make Nope a film to scoff at, as it still performed better than Peele's debut film, Get Out, which opened with $33.7 million. Plus, Nope is still a hit — coming in strong with a $6.4 million performance with Thursday's previews.

Early projections expected Nope to make between $45 million to $60 million in its opening weekend. It's coming in just slightly under those estimates, with its opening net coming from 3,785 theaters.

Us, the 2019 psychological horror film starring Lupita Nyong'o, managed to open strong, earning $71.1 million in its opening weekend; both Us and Get Out ended up totaling $255 million at the box office, a milestone still possible for Nope, given its stellar reviews and Rotten Tomatoes score of 82%.

Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun, Nope is a science fiction horror film by writer, director Jordan Peele, and it follows a group of caretakers at a California horse ranch who are pushed to the brink of survival when they encounter a mysterious alien force that affects human and animal behavior.

You can check out IGN's review of Nope linked above (which we called a "bleak, hilarious sci-fi-horror romp, and one of the most entertaining summer movies in years.") and also watch this hilarious interview, in which Jordan Peele reveals how he gave the cast of Nope a horror film quiz.

Diego Ramos Bechara is a Freelance Writer for IGN, and he's a fan of all things Star Wars, Rockstar, Naughty Dog, and Batman.

You can follow him on Twitter @DRamosBechara.