When Marvel Studios introduced Kang (a.k.a. He Who Remains) in Loki, the stage was set for the MCU to get an even more formidable big bad than Thanos.
However, the studio made a major misstep by throwing his most well-known Variant, Kang the Conqueror, into Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. In the movie, the Kang we expected to be the Multiverse Saga's endgame was soundly beaten by the title heroes. Then, to make matters worse, rising star Jonathan Majors was dropped from the role after a well-publicised domestic abuse trial.
Marvel Studios ultimately decided to move on from Kang and will instead focus on Doctor Doom in the next Avengers movies. Since The Kang Dynasty (now titled Doomsday) was first announced, for a May 1, 2026, release, a surprising amount has been revealed about what it would have looked like.
Today, we've shared an updated roundup of everything you need to know about the MCU movie that never was. From a villainous Iron Man to Kang's backstory and the movie's leads, this is what might have been in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty...
8. The Young Avengers vs. Lizard Kang
Earlier this year, concept art for the next Avengers movies leaked online, though we still don't know whether that was for this iteration of The Kang Dynasty or the one—Doomsday—that the Russo Brothers are working on.
Regardless, it showed the Young Avengers assembled, and writer Michael Waldron recently confirmed that he and Jeff Loveness had plans for the team to take on and defeat one of Kang's Variants. However, the scene would have been played for laughs, with the team seemingly the butt of the joke.
"Jeff Loveness and I spent an afternoon pitching on the Young Avengers defeating a version of Kang and being so stoked about it...only to discover that that particular Kang carried a little card that said to Be Patient with him, it was his first day as a Kang," Waldron explained. "And then they were so bummed. I think he was gonna be the lizard Kang from the end of Kang Dynasty? I don't know."
It sounds like a fun sequence, but perhaps relies a little too heavily on that Rick and Morty-style humour. Still, it's an indication of what we'd have seen with all those Kang Variants running loose in the Multiverse.
7. Some Very Early Story Details
The earliest plot leaks for The Kang Dynasty suggested we'd meet a much younger version of Loki's He Who Remains as the scientist Nathaniel Richards. The plan was for him to join forces with the Avengers to take on Kang and his many Variants.
Unsurprisingly, the Council of Kang would defeat The Avengers, prompting the remaining heroes to traverse the Multiverse in Avengers: Secret Wars and assemble a team of heavy hitters. Characters from the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises, along with actors like Hugh Jackman, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire, were set to be among those enlisted.
We'd guess Nathaniel was going to turn on the team at some point, though this rough plot outline didn't allude to his final fate. Perhaps he'd have created a new Sacred Timeline, leaving the MCU's characters in another loop which softly rebooted the MCU?
Either way, Kang was to remain front and centre (hence the title), and there was zero mention of Doctor Doom.
6. The Original Creative Team
Shortly after The Kang Dynasty was announced, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton was hired to take charge of the movie.
The response from fans was positive, particularly as he'd steered Shang-Chi to such great success in the final months of the pandemic. With fan theories about the Ten Rings being linked to Kang, rumours soon started swirling about Simu Liu being a huge part of what came next.
Jeff Loveness, meanwhile, was brought on board to pen the screenplay after introducing Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. Marvel Studios was left reeling by the negative critical and fan response to the movie, and several months later, Loveness was pulled from the project and replaced by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scribe Michael Waldron.
He'd already been tasked with writing Avengers: Secret Wars, but was never a particularly popular choice among fans, and eventually, we heard that he, too, had been ditched. And thus ended Kevin Feige's apparent love affair with Rick and Morty creatives. Or not, as Waldron is working on the next Avengers movies alongside Stephen McFeely.
5. "Capping A Saga"
According to Feige, the idea was for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars—and this was back when they were both set to be released in the same year—to bring the Multiverse Saga to a close.
At the time, Marvel Studios was still releasing an insane amount of content in the theatrical and streaming landscapes, meaning we'd race to the finish line by 2025. "After the creative experience we had with Infinity War and Endgame, it felt like it was about capping a Saga," Feige explained in 2022. "Saving back-to-back Avengers films for the completion of a saga."
"So many of our movies now - Multiverse of Madness' and what you’re about to see in ['Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania'], all are big team-up films introducing big parts of the mythology," he added. "'Avengers' films really should be the capper to a saga."
That still appears to be the plan, though with a year between Doomsday and Secret Wars, rumour has it we'll spend a little extra time on "Battleworld."
4. Iron Man Returns...As A Villain
As production on The Kang Dynasty continued, more plot details started surfacing. With Waldron in total control of both that and Secret Wars, it seemed that tying the story into the Doctor Strange sequel became a bigger priority.
Earth-616 was reportedly set to face an Incursion with Earth-838, the home of the Illuminati. A previously unseen member of the team would come to the MCU seeking to avenge his fallen allies: an Iron Man Variant and the creator of the Ultron drones we saw in the group's headquarters. Oh, and Robert Downey Jr. would likely return to play him!
We also started hearing about The Beyonder being introduced as a Kang Variant, perhaps with the Conqueror from Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania returning with powers he'd presumably gained from his Time Chair's power core. That might explain rumours of Marvel Studios intending to kill either Scott Lang, Hank Pym, or Janet Van Dyne in The Kang Dynasty.
Quantumania's ending, with Scott worrying about his actions, was tacked on in reshoots and clearly something Marvel intended to revisit.
3. Kang's Backstory
Loki revealed that He Who Remains was the Kang who won the Multiversal War after figuring out how to defeat his Variants. He subsequently created a single "Sacred Timeline" and, having grown bored with watching over it, planned for Loki to take his place.
We then met Earth-616's Kang, Victor Timely, though he was ultimately rendered harmless. Whether he and He Who Remains were the same person from different points in time is unclear, particularly as Marvel Studios has failed to really differentiate between time travel and the "Multiverse."
Loveness, however, planned to take a deep dive into Kang's history and finally answer all those lingering questions. "Lots of stuff [was deleted]," he said while promoting Quantumania. "One in particular, there’s a little more Kang backstory that I think is probably better served for 'Avengers.' Where he’s going, where he’s been, all that kind of stuff."
One crazy rumour even positioned Kang as a hero who was going to try and save the Multiverse from Doctor Strange, who, having traversed the Multiverse, had caused a string of Incursions. It sounded like a weird, very busy (and very messy) movie.
2. The Movie's Most Important Characters
For the longest time, we heard the idea was for Spider-Man to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty's lead character. Now, as we head into Avengers: Doomsday, that's clearly not the plan with Spider-Man: Brand New Day on the horizon, and it feels like the focus may shift away from the web-slinger.
Loveness supposedly had the majority of the Multiverse Saga's leads (minus Thor, for some reason) battling Kang's Variants on Earth. Despite that villain's presence, the story was described as largely grounded and light on full-blown Multiversal elements.
Waldron's vision was thought to be similar, but put a greater emphasis on the Multiverse before giving alternate reality heroes a much larger role in Avengers: Secret Wars. As for the leads, we heard they'd be Captain America (Sam Wilson), Spider-Man, Moon Knight, The Hulk, and She-Hulk
At one point, it was even reported that the idea was to pull a Kaguya with Kang; that's a reference to Naruto and a character named Madara, who was introduced as a serious threat and big bad. However, Kaguya unceremoniously killed Madara—proving he wasn't the threat everyone thought—and was instead established as the true villain. Instead of The Beyonder, perhaps Doom is now the "Kaguya" in this scenario?
1. The Latest Plot Update
We'll finish with the most up-to-date plot leak, which, as expected, appears to borrow elements from the other details listed here and adds some new ones to the mix for a movie that, at least at first glance, had the potential to be pretty good.
It's said that separate Avengers teams set out to battle Immortus, Centurion and Rama-Tut, the three Kang Variants teased at the end of Quantumania. However, the Conqueror Variant was going to return from "The Beyond" in the third act to take revenge against his doppelgangers and become He Who Remains.
It's unclear what would have happened from there heading into Avengers: Secret Wars, but with history repeating itself and the Multiverse once again destroyed, we've heard surviving heroes from several different realities were set to battle "The Beyonder" in The Void.
A very early draft of Loveness' Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has also leaked online; while we can't say for sure whether it's the real deal, you can check it out here. It makes for an interesting read.