Who is Marvel's Stronger Villain?
Olivia Owen Kang the Conqueror is rumored to become the next big major villain of the MCU - but looking at the comics, is he stronger than Thanos?
After Thanos left some titan-sized shoes to fill in the MCU after the Infinity Saga, but it didn't take long for rumors to swirl claiming Kang the Conqueror was coming. Both Kang and Thanos are among the most formidable villains in Marvel Comics, but of the two of them, which one is actually more powerful?
As will be news to many movie fans, Kang the Conquerer was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in the 1960s. Born in the 31st century as Nathaniel Richards (making him a possible descendant of Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic), Kang develops an obsession with history and, after discovering time travel technology created by Doctor Doom, decides to go back in time and conquer the past. A more noble pursuit to begin his origin than Thanos and his lust for power, and a sign of the two villains' greatest difference.
After a run-in with Marvel's heroes in ancient Egypt, Kang attempts to return to his own time, but accidentally goes too far into the future and discovers a world ravaged by war and ripe for the conquering. This is when Nathaniel officially becomes Kang the Conqueror.
Kang The Conqueror's Role in Marvel Comics
Despite successfully conquering the Earth of the future, Kang knows the planet is dying, so he once again turns his sights on the past. Kang hopes to spread his empire across history, and his relentless efforts to take over 20th century Earth have brought him into conflict with just about every hero in Marvel’s library - and even alternate versions of Kang himself. Although his plots are always eventually foiled by the heroes, Kang has proven time and again that he is an incredibly dangerous opponent.
He may not have any superpowers, but he is a skilled combatant and has a genius-level intellect, not to mention access to advanced technology from the future (including armor that gives him super strength, energy projection, force-fields, holograms, and more). Kang has also been known to use something called an ultra-diode ray gun, which weakens the willpower of its targets and can even temporarily disable superpowers. Of course, Kang’s most powerful tool is his time-ship, which allows him to time travel and gives him access to weaponry from any point in history. It’s no wonder it usually takes a whole team of heroes to bring him down.
The Role of Thanos in Marvel Comics
He may not have it in his name, but Thanos is no less of a conqueror than Kang. After killing his own mother and fleeing his home world of Titan as a child, Thanos returned decades later with his own army that he built from the ground up, and decimated the planet. From then on, Thanos continually searched for ways to impress Death, which usually involved mass destruction and genocide across the universe. However, perhaps Thanos’s greatest feat came in 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet limited series, when he eliminated half of all life with a snap of his fingers. This was later reversed, but the act forever cemented Thanos as one of the most dangerous villains of all time.
While Thanos largely relies on the Infinity Stones for his strength in the movies, Thanos has a surprising number of abilities in the comic, including super strength, invulnerability, and some form of immortality. Even without this plethora of powers, Thanos is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and extremely intelligent, particularly when it comes to warfare. He’s defeated Thor, the Hulk, and even his own son Thane possessed by the Phoenix Force - and that was all without the Infinity Gauntlet. There’s no denying that Thanos is one of the baddest bad guys in the universe, but how would he fare against Kang the Conqueror?
Kang vs Thanos: Which Villain is Stronger?
Both Kang and Thanos are forces to be reckoned with, but their abilities are so different in spirit that fans will have a harder time comparing them than they might expect. In a fistfight, Thanos seems the likely winner. However, in a more drawn-out conflict, Kang’s ability to traverse time makes him almost impossible to defeat. With decades to spend planning his attack, amassing necessary forces and weapons needed, there isn’t much Thanos could do to answer it beyond brutality and raw willpower. At a certain level, these two villains embody the age-old dilemma of brains vs. brawn.
Of course, fans will have to wait until at least Ant-Man 3 to see if Marvel honors these similarities and differences in their movie adaptations, as well as the comics. In the end, how Kang stacks up to Thanos in the MCU may be completely different. But based on the comics, by selecting Kang, Marvel has chosen a worthy successor to the Mad Titan. To beat Thanos the heroes must be stronger. But to beat Kang, they have to be smarter. And one problem is harder to solve than the other.
