Who is Kang?

That which is written, is written… and an eternity of raging will not alter one instant of that which will be. Only one maddening enigma remains! Who knows that which is written? Who knows what will be — in the end?

This post was requested by a reader, Bill. Actually, what Bill requested was a brief history of Kang. But brevity is not my strong suit. So I’ll do what I can, which is a comprehensive history of Kang from 1962-2007, the year I stopped reading Marvel regularly.

Who is Kang? In short, he is Kang the Conquerer. He’d conquered the world of the future, and while Alexander wept for there were no new worlds to conquer, Kang found new worlds by setting his sights on conquering history. His story only gets confusing because he’s also gone by other names, like Rama-Tut, Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, Nathaniel Richards, Victor Timely, Whisperer, Iron Lad, and maybe Dr. Doom. And because there is a whole multiverse of Kang variants out there.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we met Kang in Loki, portrayed by Jonathan Majors, and he plays a significant role in Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania.

This post is broken into 3 pages.

1. 1962-1969 Meet Rama-Tut, Kang, Immortus, Ravonna, and the Scarlet Centurion.
2. 1974-1990 Learn the truth about Immortus; witness the death of Immortus; meet He Who Remains, the Time-Keepers, Marcus, Nathanial Richards, and Nebula; witness the death of Immortus again; then learn the real truth about Immortus. (Still not the real truth)
3. 1990-2005 Meet Mr. Mobius of the Time Variance Authority, learn the actual truth about everything, and meet Iron Lad of the Young Avengers.

If you’re just looking for good Kang stories, I’ll jump right to the end and suggest two. I think Kurt Busiek wrote some good Kang stories. Try Avengers Forever or Kang Dynasty.

Dr. Doom

Fantastic Four #5 [Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Joe Sinnott, 1962]

The complicated story of Kang really begins with Dr. Doom, the scientist/sorcerer who had a time platform and could think of no better uses for it than to send the Fantastic Four back in time to steal Blackbeard’s treasure. Thing himself puts on a disguise and becomes the legendary Blackbeard. But… Dr. Doom only sent Thing back in time because of Blackbeard’s legend. And there would be no legend of Blackbeard if Thing hadn’t gone back in time. This is a potential paradox, or at least a time loop.

This time platform or the underlying technology will be used often by Dr. Doom or others whenever time travel shenanigans are called for.

Rama-Tut

Fantastic Four #19 [Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, 1963]

The Fantastic Four borrow Dr. Doom’s time platform to travel back in time and meet Rama-Tut, who it turns out is also a time-traveler. He was from the year 3000, bored of the peace and prosperity of the time, but then found time machine plans from one of his ancestors, and used it to build a time machine in the shape of the Sphinx, which he used to travel back to Ancient Egypt and conquer it. His time machine had been damaged in the process and only recently repaired. Defeated by the Fantastic Four, he left the shell of the Sphinx behind, but fled in the main capsule into time.

Mr. Fantastic speculates Rama-Tut’s ancestor who built the time machine was Dr. Doom. A logical supposition given the facts. Thing speculates Rama-Tut may have been Dr. Doom himself. A baseless supposition.

Avengers #2 [Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Paul Reinman, 1963]

The Avengers meet the Space Phantom, an alien invader who can take on somebody’s form by sending them to Limbo. Two identical beings cannot occupy the same world at once.

Fantastic Four Annual 2 [Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Chic Stone, 1964]

But… if we’re both the same man… how can we co-exist at the same moment in eternity??!

In the present time, Rama-Tut rescues Dr. Doom from outer space. Rama-Tut confirms it was Dr. Doom who was his ancestor who designed his time machine. Then Dr. Doom speculates, despite all evidence, that they may be the same man. Perhaps Dr. Doom traveled into the future and became Rama-Tut. Or perhaps Rama-Tut traveled into the past and became Dr. Doom. But since neither recalls having done so, maybe both are dumb theories.

Kang the Conquerer

Avengers #8 [Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, 1964]

No need for such unseemly speed! Time means nothing to Kang, the Conqueror!

This was published just one week after the FF Annual with Rama-Tut. The Avengers meet Kang the Conqueror. He is from the year 3000, and traveled back to Ancient Egypt and became known as Rama-Tut. Since we last saw him, he’d traveled forward to the year 4000, a barbarous time where people used the weaponry of more advanced civilizations past to engage in war. Rama-Tut became known as Kang, and conquered the world. He has now traveled back in time to also lay claim to the world in this century. Despite all the future technology at his disposal, he is defeated by the Avengers and retreats into time.

Immortus

Avengers #10 [Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers, 1964]

The Avenger meet Immortus, the master of time and ruler of Limbo, who joins the Masters of Evil. Immortus imprisons Rick Jones in the Tower of London of 1760, then calls on warriors from different eras to battle the Avengers: Paul Bunyan, Goliath, Hercules, Merlin, Attila the Hun… Enchantress reveals she also has time travel powers, and retreats into time, making it so Immortus and the Avengers never battled, so no Avengers will remember Immortus.

Avengers #11 [Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Chic Stone, 1964]

Kang returns and sends a robotic duplicate of Spider-Man to battle the Avengers.

Ravonna

Avengers #23–24 [Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers, 1965]

Kang has a softer side. One kingdom remains unconquered in his own era, because he is in love with Princess Ravonna, and wishes her to marry him and make him her king. When Kang’s generals mutiny because he’s grown soft, Kang must team up with the Avengers to save Ravonna’s kingdom. They are victorious, but in the end, Ravonna decides she does love Kang and sacrifices herself to save him.

In the MCU, we met Ravonna in Loki, working for the Time Variant Authority, portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Thor #140 [Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Vince Colletta, 1967]

We meet Kang’s robotic servant, the Growing Man. Thor uses his hammer to banish them into an infinity vortex.

Scarlet Centurion

Avengers #56 [Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and George Klein, 1968]

I know we can’t change fate… and it’d be dangerous to try…

The Avengers visit Doom’s old castle to use his time machine. Reed had told Cap about it and instructed him in the use. Weird, because Reed moved the time machine to the Baxter Building in Fantastic Four #23. So what’s it doing back here? Cap wanted to go back in time to make sure that Bucky really had died as he thought. If he’d survived that explosion, why not Bucky? They are supposed to go in invisible phantom form, because if two versions of the same person co-exist at the same time, bad things happen. Wasp operated the controls in the present, and fell asleep and accidentally rendered the Avengers corporeal.

Avengers Annual 2 [Roy Thomas, Don Heck, Werner Roth, and Vince Colletta, 1968]

We learn the consequences of Wasp dozing off when the Avengers returned to the present to find the history of the world had changed. Scarlet Centurion had manipulated the original Avengers into defeating all other super beings so he could conquer the world. Scarlet Centurion is really a past version of Kang. After being Rama-Tut in the past, and before becoming Kang in the future, Kang spent time in the present as the Scarlet Centurion. He’d put Wasp to sleep to cause the damage to the timestream which gave him this opportunity. But the Avengers set everything right, and Scarlet Centurion retreated into the future, becoming Kang.

Avengers #69-71 [Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema, and Sam Grainger, 1969]

Ravonna had not died, but hovers in suspended animation. The Grandmaster offers Kang a chance to save Ravonna if he can defeat him in a game. Kang wins the game but chooses instead the power to destroy the Avengers. Though in this too he fails. The Avengers survive, and Ravonna remains in a state between life and death.

Continued on Page 2 with the Celestial Madonna Saga!