Jonathan Majors on Kang the Conqueror, ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,’ and the MCU

If you have ever wondered what music one of the greatest villains in the MCU, (which is the universe for all practical purposes) listens to, Jonathan Majors has the answer. The 33-year-old actor, who plays Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, says with a laugh, “Hold on a second. I’m going to give you the real deal.”

Brandishing his phone on a video call from Sydney, Jonathan says, “I’m going to give you the top tracks on this playlist. There is ‘9mm’ by Power-Haus, ‘The Landlord Is Dead’ by Do Make Say Think, Stevie Wonder’s ‘If It’s Magic’ and ‘Monster’ by Kanye West. There are 88 tracks on Kang’s playlist but these would be the particular songs that would strike fear in the hearts of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and the Pym family.”

Family first

Jonathan Majors in a still from the film
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Quantumania is the third Ant-Man movie following Ant-Man (2015), and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and the 31st film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Describing the Langs (Scott and his daughter, Cassie played by Kathryn Newton) and the Pyms — Hank (Michael Douglas), his wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer), and their daughter Hope, (Evangeline Lilly), as the core family, Jonathan says, “They are the nuclear family of the MCU. We’ve watched them grow, mature, challenge one another and negotiate their circumstances. Regardless of where we come from, we all understand family.”

The time-traveling Kang has taken over from Thanos, who according to Jonathan had the benefit of being a singular character. “He challenged the Avengers as one entity. Kang, on the other hand, is one single being multiple times over. There are multiple versions of him that the MCU has to contend with.”

Looking at Loki

There is also the fact, the Lovecraft Country actor says, that Kang is human. “There is something about the superpower of living, being a regular flesh-and-blood human being that allows for a certain level of danger and risk that is relatable. Kang is someone to be reckoned with primarily because he is so familiar, but also quite out there.”

While Kang is a variant of He Who Remains from the series, Loki, the two characters are different. As an actor, Jonathan says, he is always dealing with multiple characters, at the same time. “When someone asks me how are they different, I ask what’s the difference between Loki and Ant-Man.”

The difference between He Who Remains and Kang is the dissonance, Majors says. “He Who Remains ran around in a robe and sandals and Kang the Conqueror is in full on futuristic militaristic gear. They are on different missions in different worlds.”

Back in time

Kang the Conqueror makes his debut in Quantumania. “I watched the first two Ant-Man movies, all the Avengers movies, essentially the entire MCU, before stepping into Kang.” Ant-Man, Jonathan says, helps establish who Kang needs to be in Quantumania.

“He is the antagonist, ultimately to the entire MCU, but in this particular moment, he’s going against Ant-Man. In order to tell the story the best it could be, my Kang, in addition to all the comic lore, had to deal with an everyday man who’s fighting for something quite simple. To antagonize him, I had to study and analyze the psychology of Scott Lang.”

Great expectations

A still from ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’

There is a lot of expectation because the mythology of Kang is so great, the actor admits. “And, no pun intended, the variations, in which he could be brought to the silver screen are also great.” When Jonathan got the job he bought every single comic book that referenced Kang or a Kang variant.

“There is a certain amount of responsibility,” he says. “Even if we don’t show all that stuff in the films, or series, I have to know it all because it may or may not come up later. There was a high level of pressure to live up to what the comic books are saying, what the fans and Kevin Feige expect and also how I want to contribute to cinema and MCU.”

Addressing the criticism of the cookie-cutter nature of MCU movies, Jonathan says, “Do I think Kang will be the catalyst to bridge the gap between the haters and fans? I don’t know. If my iteration of Kang can help bring in more viewers and mitigate the hate, that’s cool.”

The beautiful thing about joining the MCU, Jonathan says, is they did not ask him to change his approach to acting. “I approached Kang the same way I did Damien Anderson in Creed III, which is coming out in a couple of weeks, Killian Maddox in Magazine Dreams, or Montgomery Allen in Last Black Man in San Francisco.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania releases in theatres on February 17