The MCU’s Unused Kang Designs Would’ve Prevented Marvel"s Unresolved Avengers 5 Problem

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Avengers 5 had a problem that a collection of unused designs for Kang the Conqueror would have solved if the MCU had made a slightly different choice. Before San Diego Comic Con 2024 officially changed its title to Avengers: Doomsday, the fifth Avengers movie (and first within the Multiverse Saga) was titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and would have featured Kang the Conqueror - previously portrayed by Jonathan Majors - as its arch villain. A series of events in 2023 would, however, lead to Jonathan Majors" arrest, conviction, and firing from the MCU.
This posed a significant issue for Marvel Studios, as Majors" Kang and his variants had already debuted in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. With Jonathan Majors" departure, it quickly became apparent that Marvel would have to recast the role. While Marvel has yet to do so - suggesting that Kang may be quietly pushed aside entirely within the MCU - it nearly sidestepped the issue of recasting Kang entirely with a design for his cinematic debut that would ultimately go unused.
Many Of Kang's Unused MCU Designs Would've Made An Actor Recasting Easier Kang The Conqueror's Face Was Nearly Entirely Covered Close In March 2023, Marvel Entertainment shared a video via YouTube that delved into the process behind Kang the Conqueror"s design in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was released one month prior, in February.
In the video, Marvel Studios" Director of Visual Development Andy Park and Concept Artist Constantine Sekeris explain the process of developing Kang the Conqueror"s design. While the studio would ultimately settle on a well-received look that remains faithful to Kang the Conqueror"s comic book design, a few concepts are shown that practically cover Kang"s entire face.
The video also shares a look at an early design for Kang in Marvel Comics, which shows his mask once covered his whole face, akin to Iron Man and Doctor Doom.
The studio opted for a design that would allow Jonathan Majors to display his full face and acting range by essentially covering his face with a translucent forcefield. This meant that Jonathan Majors" total screen-time was maximized, making his face inextricable from Kang the Conqueror in his most comic-accurate form. Had the studio instead opted for a design that obscured his face, however, it would have assuaged the issues Marvel now has with recasting Kang the Conqueror.
Kang's Other MCU Mask Designs Could've Changed The Current Issue With The Council Of Kangs The Council Of Kangs Looked Almost Entirely Identical Close One of the more baffling decisions Marvel Studios made with Kang the Conqueror and his variants was deciding to make each of his variants practically identical. Even a lizard-faced Kang seen in the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania post-credits scene was portrayed by the actor, adding to a sea of Kang variants that all share Jonathan Majors" features. By this point, the MCU had already established that variants can look wildly different, with the likes of Alligator Loki exemplifying this to the fullest extent.
Kang and his variants became outliers in that regard when the Council of Kangs were revealed, showing that Kang, for some reason, seemingly looks identical no matter what universe he comes from. This behind-the-scenes look at concept art makes this notion even more frustrating, as the studio was sitting on several designs that could have at the very least covered Kang"s face entirely, thus making recasting even a handful of variants easier for the studio to justify. Instead, any potential re-cast is now decidedly more conspicuous.
Kang's Unused MCU Designs May Have Allowed Avengers 5 To Remain Avengers: The Kang Dynasty Marvel May Have Struggled With Re-Casting Kang Close It is difficult to say precisely why Marvel decided to pivot from Kang the Conqueror entirely for the first of its two climactic Multiverse Saga movies. The underwhelming performance of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania may have had a large part to play in deciding to pivot instead to Doctor Doom. On the other hand, Marvel may have decided that re-casting Kang and two of his most prominent variants - He Who Remains and Victor Timely - may have been too complicated to justify in-universe, despite already recasting several MCU roles until this point.
If the latter is true, then opting for a fully masked Kang might have dissuaded Marvel"s decision to pivot for Avengers: Doomsday. Ironically, the studio now faces the opposite problem, as it has cast its biggest star - Robert Downey Jr. - in a role that is inextricably tied to a full-face mask, raising questions of how the studio intends to capitalize on RDJ"s money-spinning image from behind it. Whatever the case, only time will tell how the studio intends to navigate this, and whether Kang the Conqueror will ever appear again in the MCU.

Avengers 5 Not Yet Rated Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom - played by the returning Robert DOwney Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of phase 6 of the MCU.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton Release Date May 1, 2026 Studio(s) Marvel Studios Writers Michael Waldron Cast Kathryn Newton , Iman Vellani , Mark Ruffalo , Hailee Steinfield , Anthony Mackie , Benedict Wong , Simu Liu , Benedict Cumberbatch , Dominique Thorne , Xochitl Gomez , Chris Hemsworth , Brie Larson Upcoming MCU Movies