Will Kang be in Avengers: Doomsday? Rumors say no

As of June 2025, the latest rumors said Kang would be mentioned in Avengers: Doomsday, and that the movie would explain what happened to him. He wouldn't appear, but his fate would apparently be addressed. Meanwhile, Redditors had spotted technology in Fantastic Four promo material that looks like it belongs in the TVA. My view: a mention is the best we're going to get in Doomsday or Secret Wars.

Jonathan Majors was most likely not showing up in either film. Still, Marvel would have to explain where Kang went if it wanted to tie off the multiverse saga.

Insiders said Kevin Feige was considering a Jonathan Majors return as Kang

Early in 2025, certain industry insiders indicated we'd find out what would happen with Kang in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. For a while, one prevailing theory was that Kang would be used to set up Doctor Doom's power level. Majors would come back, and then Kang would immediately lose to Doom.

That never seemed likely to me. Why would Jonathan Majors sign up to come back and not have some sort of redemption for himself or the character? I don't see him getting served up to Doctor Doom as an easy adversary, to establish how powerful Doom is, as the kind of return Majors would even want in the first place.

Multiple sources reported that the door was apparently still open for Majors' Kang. They went as far as to say Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was considering bringing Majors back, if not for Secret Wars, maybe somewhere down the road. Less than 24 hours later, TMZ came out to debunk that claim. The insiders maintained their sources were accurate, but it felt like it might be the last time we'd hear about the character.

The rumor said Kang would be mentioned, not seen, in Avengers: Doomsday

Then came the new reports. According to them, Kang would be mentioned during Avengers: Doomsday without showing up, and the film would reveal what his fate was.

To me, Loki season 2 seemed to offer the off ramp Marvel Studios was looking for with the character. Reportedly, Marvel Studios was considering a switch to Doom because of the box office for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It certainly felt like they wrote the end of Loki season 2 that way.

But there's still the Quantumania scene after the credits that needs to be put to rest. The end of Loki season 2 indicated the TVA had been hunting variants of Kang again. The Loom had been replaced by Loki. He Who Remains seemingly was no longer in power or relevant. Where there was once a circular, looped timeline, there was now Loki holding together a branching world tree.

Reed Richards' lab in Fantastic Four has TVA style monitors

A couple of people on Reddit pointed out how much of Reed Richards' technology resembles the TVA's. The lab in question sits on what's presumably the lab level, as it's marked in the elevator of the Baxter Building, which we saw in a playoff promo of all places.

On Reed's desk there are monitors, some blue and some orange. The orange ones especially, with their sphere shape and the interface on the front, look exactly like the monitors and tech in the TVA.

Remember that the Fantastic Four are set in the 1960s in their timeline. The 1960s are also the aesthetic of the TVA's architecture, with the orange, the blue and the whole design meant to feel nostalgic. The TVA looks like it was founded in the 1960s.

Nathaniel Richards and He Who Remains connect Reed to the TVA

He Who Remains claimed to be the TVA's founder. The person he was referring to is Nathaniel Richards, a distant relative of Reed Richards. Before Loki took his seat at the center of the world tree at the end of Loki season 2, He Who Remains described time as a perfect circle. The past is the future and the future is the past, so the 1960s on multiple timelines are one stop around the circle that keeps coming up.

So there's a relationship between Reed Richards and He Who Remains, and between the TVA technology we all assumed He Who Remains created and Reed's own. It could easily be explained as two Richards in the same time period coming up with the same technology. But it seems like a stronger reference than that.

Why Marvel can't skip Kang, He Who Remains and Victor Timely

Ultimately, it shouldn't be a surprise that Marvel would reference the multiverse saga in Doomsday and Secret Wars, even with Majors most likely absent. Everything that leads to Loki, God of Stories, sitting at the center of the world tree runs through Kang the Conqueror, He Who Remains and Victor Timely.

It would be impossible to catch everybody up on that story without at least mentioning Kang. It seems like, with a couple of turns of crafty exposition, they're going to explain why he's no longer part of the story, and definitely not the big bad they spent the last three or four years setting him up to be.

Loki is reportedly going to have a huge role in Doomsday, and the plot may revolve around him. That's why we're seeing Easter eggs like these in Fantastic Four. It's also why they put the TVA in Deadpool & Wolverine. They wanted the TVA outside Loki seasons 1 and 2, so lay fans who only watch the movies, and aren't up on the Disney+ continuity, can understand what the TVA is, how it works and the multiverse.

I still hope Kang returns with Jonathan Majors someday

I think Kang is one of those villains where, if he showed up 5, 10 or even 15 years into the MCU's future, if there is one, with Majors returning, it would be fitting. He's a character who always seems to come back and is truly eternal, or timeless. It could be a cool return.

I think they should have stuck with Majors or brought him back, and I'm going to stay optimistic that maybe somewhere down the road there can be redemption. Kang is a big Fantastic Four villain, and we've got another decade and a half of the Fantastic Four in the MCU. It could happen. Just not in Avengers: Doomsday, and not in Avengers: Secret Wars. I think a mention is the best we're going to get.