With the departure of Jonathan Majors, Kang's future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) remains in doubt, but now, Marvel has just chosen a top replacement for the villain.
Theories and rumors surrounding Avengers: Reign of Kang paint a disappointing picture, casting doubt on whether Marvel will move forward with the project as originally planned.
It's one thing for the star to leave the project because of the star (recasting wouldn't be difficult), the problem is that the underwhelming response to his feature film debut, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness, cast doubt on his potential as a villain. Ability was questioned.
If Marvel decides against recasting Kang and moves forward without him as the central villain, Fantastic Four might offer a suitable alternative.
"Fantastic Four" plans to end with "Thunderbolts" after the fifth phase of MCU, and start the sixth phase of MCU.
The movie is scheduled to be released in July 2025, and details about the movie are only starting to emerge. These include confirmed cast members, most recently John Malkovich in an as-yet-undisclosed role, and Ralph Ineson as the giant celestial being Galactus.
Astro-Eater is better known than Kang.
Astro-Eater is one of the most iconic Marvel villains. The character's film career began with his depiction as a giant space cloud in Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer. and was questioned.
So there's a lot of anticipation for Marvel to correct this; it's an enthusiasm that Kang the Conqueror can't muster.
Now, the MCU is halfway through the multiverse saga, and there has yet to be a variant of Kang that has not been defeated, which significantly reduces his protagonist status and threat level in Avengers: Reign of Kang.
For the Celestial Devourer, the situation is different. His threat level is almost self-evident. This is mainly due to the greater popularity of Celestial Devourer compared to Kang, whose relatively small size and power made a greater impact.
Given this, the MCU should at least ensure that Astro-Eater isn't defeated as easily as Kang, and that he continues to survive after his debut in Fantastic Four.
Marvel should have kept Galactus
mcu is very idiomatic for disposable villains. In most cases, this just dilutes the impact of a cosmic film. Villains like Malekith and Ultron are obvious examples.
The same fate cannot befall Galactus, aside from being an almost omnipotent giant with a penchant for devouring planets, Galactus is more of a force of nature than an out-and-out villain whose motivation for devouring planets is to... Maintain "balance" in the universe. In fact, the Fantastic Four even intentionally kept him around in the Marvel comics.
The same goes for Ultron, but Astro-Eater shouldn't be the kind of villain that only appears once and then is discarded. His importance in the Marvel Universe is at least as important as the likes of Thanos, who appeared in several movies during the Infinity Saga.
Of course, he's more important than Kang, who was, and perhaps still is, set to appear in several multiverse saga movies. Now with so much controversy surrounding the character, Marvel could make Astro-Eater the beginning of a recurring villain in the multiverse saga and pose the Avengers' greatest challenge yet.
How Marvel should pivot
When Galactus debuted in the Fantastic Four movie, it was easy to predict his goal - to wipe out the Fantastic Four's planet. The Devourer's ways were enough to inspire catastrophic fear beyond what Kang could currently inspire.
But the Marvel Cinematic Universe could continue to increase his threat level and make it better fit into multiverse storylines. Devouring planets in one universe is threatening enough, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is destined to set up a multiverse event leading up to Avengers: Secret Wars.
With that in mind, having Astro-Eater responsible for consuming or destroying entire universes is one way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to achieve this goal.
According to the theory that Fantastic Four could take place in an alternate universe different from the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe's Earth-616, this could also help transport Galactus from the Fantastic Four's universe to other universes, which are expected to follow is the team's own journey into Earth-616.
Regardless, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is under intense pressure to do justice to the iconic Marvel villain, and turning him into a bigger threat than Kang is indeed a viable path forward.
The plausibility of taking Kang's place
Currently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a state that's perfect for introducing Galactus as the main villain.
Loki Season 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness could easily downplay Kang's importance to the entire multiverse - since Kang was already defeated in the Phase 5 movies, and Disney+ The show has positioned Loki as some kind of new version of Kang's "Legacy," overseeing the fragile ecology of the multiverse.
With this framework in place, the only unresolved issue that really needs to be resolved is Council of Kang, but having Galactus destroy Council of Kang might be a solid way to establish the villain's status.
" Eternals ", and the failure of Tiamat to be born from the core of the earth, may also play a key role in showing that the earth is the object of some outside being's grand design, and that the planet can become Tiamat and Galactus sources of nutrients for others.
With Deadpool and Wolverine set to kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe's multiverse and a larger roster of heroes and villains than ever revealed, Galactus becoming the potential next major villain is more than just a logical move , and could easily be supported by several titles outside of Fantastic Four .
