Summary
Kang the Conqueror finally made hisMCUmovie debut inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but he was nearly upstaged by a terrifying side character. There is a lot of discussion surroundingKang the Conqueror’s MCU futurefollowingJonathan Majors' departurefrom the franchise and the suboptimal performance of the movie in which he debuted.Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumanialaunched MCU Phase 5 and featured Kang the Conqueror as the arch-villain whose foray into the Quantum Realm saw him swiftly subjugating its inhabitants as its emperor.
His brutal regime puts him at odds with a litany of Quantum Realm denizens, though it falls to a rebellious few to make moves against him. Most of theQuantum Realm’s inhabitantslook decidedly otherworldly compared to the human visitors, notwithstanding a handful of Quantum Realm dwellers that closely resemble humans. This may have counted against Kang, whose distinctly human appearance looks decidedly humdrum by comparison. This is particularly true for one Quantum Realm citizen with terrifying unused designs.
Quantumania’s Unused Concept Art Reveals A Spooky Character Surprise That Could Have Undermined Kang
Pixel Man makes a particularly fleeting appearance inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaas a patron at the bar in which Janet, Hank, and Hope meet up with Bill Murray’s Krylar. He has no lines and leaves swiftly before hell breaks loose, butPixel Man’s striking design of pixel-like skin and gravity-defying hair is one that stands outeven among such citizens as Jentorra and Broccoli Man. Yet the character designer, Colin Shulver, originally conceived of some downright haunting designs.
Shulver revealed unused designs for Pixel Man in concept art posted toArt Station, revealing some early concepts that turn Pixel Man into nightmare fuel. Although Pixel Man boasts mere seconds of screen time, ifAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniadebuted the initial designs of the character it wouldn’t have been hard for him to outshine the movie’s main villain as an off-putting presence. At the very least, he would have easily outshone another widely lambastedside character in the MCU.
Quantumania’s Unused Pixel Man Design Would’ve Made A Wasted Villain An Even Bigger Shame
MODOK stands out as one of theMCU’s worst-designed villainsthanks to the heavy CGI used to render Darren Cross' distressingly large head. This is compounded by MODOK’s position as one of the movie’s many comic relief characters, which detracts significantly from his comic book origins. Instead of being a super-genius on par with Marvel’s most intelligent characters,Darren Cross' MODOK is comparatively trivialized. It is possible that this was for a reason, however.
In the case of both Pixel Man and MODOK, their designs may have been more muted to avoid too much focus being placed on them instead of the arch-villain, Kang himself. Yet after being defeated by Ant-Man and the Wasp in his cinematic debut, Kang’s threat levels are now largely up for debate. While Kang did debut his more classic appearance inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, accusations that he was largely forgettable aren’t unfounded, which is something that more striking characters may have worsened in the movie.
