Who is Nathaniel Richards, Ant-Man 3's Kang the Conqueror Variant?

The new big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is slowly being brought into the spotlight and we explain the connection between Ant-Man 3’s Kang the Conqueror and Marvel character Nathaniel Richards. 

Jonathan Majors will be undertaking the role of Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3, as well as many other Marvel projects as the narrative builds toward Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Directed by Peyton Reed and written by Jeff Loveness, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania features returning stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, and more as the titular superheroes face-off against Kang the Conquerer and the Quantum Realm.

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Who is Nathaniel Richards?

Nathaniel Richards is the original identity of Kang the Conqueror, existing as a 31st-century scientist and descendant of both Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom.

It should be noted that Kang the Conqueror has undertaken a number of identities throughout Marvel’s history, creating a large web of, sometimes contradictory, aliases.

It wasn’t until Nathaniel began messing with time travel that he moved to and gained knowledge from different eras. After eventually arriving in his future timeline, he vowed to conquer every era known and rule history as Kang the Conqueror.

In some realities, Reed Richards’ father, Nathaniel, has become Kang the Conqueror, however, most of Kang’s original identities end up just being a descendant of Reed’s with the same name.

Nathaniel’s Loki Variant was Not Kang the Conqueror

A number of Marvel fans are under the impression that the villain revealed at the end of Loki Season 1 was Kang the Conqueror, but it wasn’t.

The villain, who Jonathan Majors also played, was just another variant of Nathaniel’s known as He Who Remains.

Sure, these aliases are all being driven by the same person, essentially, but each variant of Nathaniel’s has different motives, and obviously, a different name.

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Other Nathaniel Richards Variants

When Nathaniel first discovered time travel through Doctor Doom’s time platform, he first traveled to Ancient Egypt and became the pharaoh Rama-Tut.

Nathaniel’s main variant is Immortus, who is an enemy of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, agent of the Time-Keepers, and tasked with restoring the timeline. Immortus was likely adapted into the MCU’s He Who Remains.

Iron Lad is another version of Nathaniel, who went into the past to live his teenage years and reform himself as a hero. He also became part of the Young Avengers.

Scarlet Centurion is another variant, created after Doctor Doom inspired Nathaniel to leave his Rama-Tut alias behind to adopt one similar to the villain – he also ended up having a relationship with Carol Danvers.

Lastly, Victor Timely is another main variant of Nathaniel’s who lived in America during the early 1900s and motivated Professor Phineas Horton to create the android Human Torch.   

By Jo Craig – [email protected]

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is scheduled to be released on February 17, 2023.