Whatever happens with Jonathan Majors’ MCU future, Kang the Conqueror is here for the long haul as the multiversal megalomaniac is set to remain as the big bad of Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, which will unfold through 2026. With his threat to existence culminating in 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and the following year’s Avengers: Secret Wars, we can expect Kang’s introductory tussle with Scott Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to be just a teaser for many more superhero battles to come.
Unfortunately for lovers of a certain OG Avenger, Kang’s conquering of the Sacred Timeline has come just a few short years too late to make one ideal confrontation come to life. As Reddit user u/crlos619 lamented on the r/MarvelStudios sub, “it’s a shame we’ll probably never see Steve Rogers fight Kang in the next Avengers movie.” citing the fact that Kang and the original Captain America’s rivalry goes back a long way in the comics as a reason why we deserved to see this conflict brought to the screen.
Fortunately, it’s not like we don’t have another Sentinel of Liberty already gearing up to take charge as a leader of the rebooted Avengers team, in the form of Anthony Mackie’s upgraded Falcon. “Kang vs Sam Wilson will have to do,’ u/PlasticMansGlasses reminded us while u/Citizensssnips added, “That’s why we have Sam.”
Meanwhile, u/Subject89P13_ voiced their firm opinion that Chris Evans is definitely coming back for Secret Wars as he can “show up any time anywhere because he went time traveling with 6 infinity stones and Mjolnir, arguably making him the most powerful character in the MCU… He can still fight Kang.” Others concurred, with u/Blueberrypielove going one further, by throwing Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man into the mix too: “I would be insanely surprised if they don’t shell out money for a brief Tony and Steve return in Secret Wars.”
Chris Evans has long maintained that he thinks a return as Steve is unlikely, but then Hugh Jackman once ruled out a Wolverine comeback and, well, *points at Deadpool 3*, so clearly things can change. I guess we’ll find out for sure once Avengers: Secret Wars eventually comes our way on May 1, 2026.