WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA.
Marvel Studios may have just painted itself into a corner with this one.
After the season finale of Loki, we were introduced to He Who Remains and, by extension, Kang the Conqueror. As promised, Quantumania gave us a proper introduction. Just when he’s presented as this invincible villain capable of destroying the entire Multiverse and numerous Avengers variants, he’s taken down by the Ant-Family. Sure, he’s just one of an infinite number of Kangs, but it diminishes his value as the linchpin antagonist to fill Thanos’ shoes. At this point, Kang’s looking quite vincible.
For the majority of the movie — with a weak script that insisted on playing the pronoun game by just referring to “he” and “him” as if we didn’t know from the marketing to whom was being referred — Jonathan Majors was the bright spot in an otherwise campy, glorified kids’ movie. Oh, and don’t forget that Marvel REALLY wants us to remember that he’s not just Kang, but Kang the Conqueror. Someone has to remind the audience that he’s a conqueror or has done some conquering basically every time he’s even mentioned on screen.
Outside of Majors, no other performance stood out. Considering the talent director Peyton Reed had at his disposal, the blame falls squarely on his shoulders and that of a bad screenplay. At times, the plot seemed like a hodgepodge of Tron: Legacy, Rick and Morty, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids all stewed into one batch of unimpressive fan fiction.
THE KEYS
By and large, the key issues will most likely spring out of the post-credits scene. As far as speculation, there’s not much that wasn’t already predicted, so don’t expect too many issues to get major spikes. In fact, I’m wondering if Avengers #8 will lose value after the poor treatment of the would-be conqueror.
AVENGERS #267
This should be the most likely issue to get a rub from Quantumania. After the credits finish rolling, we get a glimpse of the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. As teased in Loki, these are the infinite Kang variants that He Who Remains warned Loki and Sylvie about. They will play a huge role in the remainder of The Multiverse Saga, and it will no doubt have investment implications.
As of the movie’s February 16 premiere, prices were holding steady, with the 9.8 averaging around $250 for the past year.
AVENGERS #10
Last year, this issue gained a huge following thanks to He Who Remains’ appearance in Loki. While he didn’t bear the name, he was based on the Immortus character from the comics. Quantumania revealed a much more comics-accurate Immortus, and that renewed interest in his first appearance.
The most popular grade has traditionally been the 8.0, which currently sits at a $596 average over the past 30 days after earning a $763 fair market value in the last 12 months.
FANTASTIC FOUR #19
Famously, Nathaniel Richards (sans Kang moniker) made his debut as Rama Tut in FF #19. While it will never compete with Avengers #8 as the bigger Kang key, the post-credits reveal of a Kang variant sporting a pharaoh's headdress will have buyers targeting this comic. Now would be the time to strike. Take the graded 6.5. For the past 12 months, it’s averaged $1,044, but that price has fallen to $813 in recent months.
A PREVIEW OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR?
Looking back on the third (and hopefully last) Ant-Man film, it seems it was more or less a stepping stone toward Fantastic Four and season two of Loki. Days ago, Feige had said that the mysterious FF film will be a cornerstone of The Multiverse Saga. Given that Quantumania did the Electric Slide all around the name Nathaniel Richards, that big reveal is in order, probably for FF.
The introduction of the Council of Cross-Time Kangs should lead to the Council of Reeds as a counterweight. After the disappointment of Quantumania, it’s hard to get terribly excited about the remainder of Kang’s story.
