Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is a series of comic books created in the late 1990s and early 2000s by Kurt Busiek and George Perez. It’s also the second to last MCU film in Phase 6. And if The Kang Dynasty is where the MCU is going, it should be easy just to read a few comics to get educated on coming events. Or at least you might think so. But like any multiverse adventure, there is a lot of setup to what’s going on, and the MCU has its own direction that looks nothing like the comics.
Kang Dynasty was an action-packed, incredibly chaotic event in the history of Earth-616. It showcased many more villains besides Kang and had a very layered, complicated plot that had everything from radioactive monsters to strange cults going into space. With everything that happens in the comics, it seems more likely that the MCU will try to rewrite this bit of comic book history instead of following it as a guide.
But this is probably a good decision considering the author of the story used the scope of the Kang Dynasty to fold in smaller plots that he had been trying to conclude in his own time. In many ways, fans might be in for a completely original MCU tale when they see Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
What Happens in Marvel’s Kang Dynasty?
The comic book run called Kang Dynasty occurred over Avengers Vol. 3 #41-55 and spanned the turning of the millennium. But the Marvel universe of the comics looked a lot different from how it does in the MCU today. The Avengers assembled then were of greater number and included names we haven’t even heard whispers of in the MCU. Some familiar heroes were in attendance, like Thor, Vision, She-Hulk, Wasp, and Captain Marvel (going by the name Warbird at the time). Iron Man and Captain America were also there, but the story relied on some heroes you would have only heard of had you been into comics then. Wonder Man was likely the most famous of these MCU outsiders, but there were also such celebrities as Jack of Hearts, Triathlon, Silverclaw, and Living Lightning. And that isn’t even the complete list of assembled Avengers.
But when Kang came from space and attacked the United Nations building in New York, it took nearly every superhero around to fend him off. When he showed up, Kang announced he had plans to conquer the Earth for his son, Scarlet Centurion. He had been an identity of Kang’s that comic readers had seen previously, but this iteration of the character was, in fact, Kang’s son and not Kang himself. Scarlet Centurion appeared from a void, wearing his powerful armor, and Kang explained his plan for how he would save Earth…by conquering it.
Kang foretold a list of horrible futures from which he was there to save the planet in exchange for humanity’s surrender. When Earth refused, the various horrors proceeded to unfold. Evil Atlanteans attacked the UK. Radioactive Zombies swarmed Russia. And an army of Deviants ran rampant through China. But the Avengers dispatched them all, and that was the easy part.
Uniting to Bring Kang Down
Other villains attempted to take over the world before the Avengers could approach Kang. A religious group called the Triune Understanding was planning on harvesting the psychic energy of their members to power a spaceship that would destroy a threat called the Triple Evil, which was a scary pyramid floating through space. An underground villain called the Master of the World suddenly raised fortresses from beneath the Earth to imprison all the world’s cities and major leaders.
It was then that the United States government told the Avengers that they only had 96 hours to destroy Kang before they unleashed the Sentinels – powerful robots built to carry out a Holocaust against mutants. When Kang defeated the Avengers, he took control of the Sentinels and attacked Earth, destroying Washington D.C. in the process. Finally, Earth surrendered, and Kang accepted a signature as testament from Wasp, who was the leader of the Avengers at the time.
Things seemed dark for the Avengers as heroes were imprisoned, and there was chaos all over the globe. But the Master of the World and the Triune Understanding eventually decided to join forces with the Avengers when Kang became a common enemy. Through creative use of the Master’s technology and a coordinated attack on Kang that included a giant Captain America in space, they overcame the multidimensional despot. Unfortunately, we can’t tell the story in detail here, but those looking for a better summary can go to the Marvel website or pick up the comics.
Keeping that tale in mind, the MCU doesn’t seem to be heading in the direction to tell that particular story. Even so far from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’s 2025 premiere date, many things would have to change to bring us anywhere close to the start of this comic book series. Still, the MCU will likely make full use of Kang’s villainous web of variants, so we’ll likely see the Scarlet Centurion at some point.
The word “dynasty” is an active one, though. And there are fan theories about how the MCU could form the Young Avengers and introduce Iron Lad to be Kang’s son or displaced variant. But we won’t know more until Kang appears in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.