The Riverside Lady Vikes Varsity softball team is on a roll with a record of 9-5. The team is led by senior pitcher Lexi Kostoff who recently surpassed 300 career strikeouts and is 30 Ks away from the school record. As the only senior on the team, she has a young team behind her including league-leading hitters Alyssa Fox (.400) and Zoey Zimorowicz (.319). So far this season, the Lady Vikes conquered the Holy Cross Crusaders 10-4 for the first time since 2016. With multiple mercy rule games under their belt, they hope to roll through the second half of the season with the same momentum. 

Upcoming games include @ Lakeland (5/10), @ Mid Valley (5/15), Old Forge (Home on 5/17), and Valley View (Home on 5/19).

Who is Kang?

Nathaniel Richards, AKA Kang the Conqueror, is a supervillain introduced in Marvel Comics Avengers #8 released back in September 1964. Kang is a time-traveling entity and descendant of fellow famous Marvel character, Reed Richards. 

There have been several alternate versions of Kang that have shown up throughout the comics. Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Immortus, the Scarlet Centurion, Victorex Prime, Victor Timely, Iron Lad, Chronomonitor, and Qeng Gryphon to name a few.

Where TV and movies are concerned, Kang has had a number of on-screen appearances throughout history. His first appearance was in 1999’s The Avengers: United They Stand where he was voiced by Ken Kramer. Then, 17 years later in 2016, he reappeared in season 3 episode 12 of Avengers Assemble where Steve Blum voiced him. More recently, Jonathan Majors portrayed the character in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 

Kang Conquers the Comics

When Kang was first introduced in Marvel’s Avengers #8 in September 1964, he appeared sporting a purple and green futuristic suit with a blue face cover. He fought against Marvel heroes such as Ironman, Captain America, Thor, and Antman. Kang appeared in many comics after that. 

Over 50 years later and over 130 comic appearances later, Kang finally faced off against another one of the Avengers’ big bads. That being the Mad Titan, Thanos. They squared off against each other in 2021’s Avengers: Mech Strike #4 where Kang ultimately killed Thanos.

Thanos isn’t the only Marvel character Kang has killed off, however. Kang has also conquered the likes of Ultron (Earth-10943), in Avengers (Vol. 4) #6, and Nick Fury (Earth-19205), in Siege (Vol. 2) #3.

The MCU’s Kang the Conqueror

Back in September of 2020, Deadline put out an article titled “Jonathan Majors Joins Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lands Major Role In Next ‘Ant-Man’ Movie.” Jonathan Majors is best known for his roles in 2023’s Creed III as Dame Anderson, Disney Plus’ "Loki" as He Who Remains, and HBO's "Lovecraft Country." Back in 2020 when he landed the role of Kang the Conqueror, fans didn’t know what to think. People haven’t really heard much about this actor being that he hasn’t been in that many projects. None too well known at least.

Fans began putting Jonathan Majors/Kang fan art out onto the internet in late 2021, a whole 2 years before the movie’s intended release date. That’s when fans began to see it. They couldn’t wait to see this new iteration of this major villain. 

A year later, in October 2022, Marvel released its first Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer, which gave fans their first look at Jonathan Major’s Kang the Conqueror. Fans were ecstatic. From that point on, Marvel began putting out promo art for the movie. Eventually showing fans Kang’s iconic Time Chair from the comics. Comic fans went nuts after seeing the chair and how crazy it looked. They knew that Kang would not only be greater than any villain the Avengers had ever faced, but the best villain Marvel would ever integrate into their cinematic universe. Once Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania hit theaters, fans were finally able to see Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror in full.

The Future of Kang

Marvel Studios already began pre-production of the next two Avenger's films, set to his theaters a year apart. May 2, 2025 (Kang Dynasty) and May 1, 2026 (Secret Wars). Jonathan Majors is set to return as Kang in allegedly both of these films. However, there is speculation that Jonathan Major will be returning in Avengers: Secret Wars but not as Kang. According to @MyTimeToShineHello on Twitter, The Beyonder will be the main villain of Secret Wars and a Kang variant. Now, obviously, Jonathan Majors will be playing Kang in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, however, for Avengers: Secret Wars, fans may not see Kang again. Or will they? I guess fans will just have to wait and see on May 1, 2026.