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As Kulan Gath continues to reign over the Marvel Universe unopposed, Kang the Conqueror helps an unlikely, unofficial Avenger.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Savage Avengers #25, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Since he cemented himself as a future threat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Loki., Kang the Conqueror has resurfaced to menace everyone from the Savage Avengers to Moon Knight. And as an ancient supervillain quickly moves to conquer the entire Marvel Universe and crush any hero or villain that opposes him, Conan the Barbarian decides to make a desperate alliance with Kang against their mutual enemy, with the normally taciturn Conqueror agreeing to assist the Last Cimmerian countless times to restore reality as it once was.
Conan’s longtime nemesis Kulan Gath, an evil sorcerer from the Hyborian Age, has resurfaced in the relative present of the Marvel Universe as part of his latest bid to conquer the world. More powerful than ever, Gath easily crushed the Avengers and X-Men when the superhero community assembled in vain to stop his rise to power. Conan managed to elude death against his old enemy, surviving on the run for years before commandeering an old suit of armor belonging to Doctor Doom and using it to travel to Citadel Kang, a castle existing beyond time where Kang had taken up to use as his base of operations free from Gath’s interference. And in Savage Avengers #25 — by Gerry Duggan, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia and VC’s Travis Lanham — Kang accepts Conan’s offer to join forces and overthrow Gath.
After an initial skirmish, Kang and Conan stand down, with Kang giving the Cimmerian an impromptu tour of his vast headquarters, including trophies of every single hero and villain that Kang has personally defeated across the various timelines and alternate universes. Conan asks how Kang was able to emerge triumphant against so many formidable opponents, with Kang claiming his awareness of time made him able to anticipate how his enemies would act and defeated them accordingly. When pressed further, Kang revealed that the one target that has been able to anticipate his own moves has been Kulan Gath, with a defeated Kang taking refuge in his castle to lick his wounds in a spot outside of Gath’s apparent attention.
Even more troublingly, Kang reveals that he and Conan have had variations of their team-up against Kulan Gath before across branching realities, all resulting in Kulan Gath’s final victory over their combined efforts. When an incredulous Conan asks Kang how many times he has lost to Gath in this apparent temporal loop, Kang confesses that he has actually lost count of the times Conan has perished fighting his nemesis in various timelines. And despite this, Kang agrees to accompany Conan to yet another showdown as Conan ponders different strategies to change up his grim destiny.
Kang has occasionally aided the superheroes against mutual, more powerful enemies but always with the endgame of seizing power for himself following this temporary truce. The incident with Kulan Gath is no exception, with Kang all but guaranteed to double-cross Conan even they ever break the cycle and successfully topple the ancient sorcerer. And even with all of Kang’s weapons from the heroes and villain he has defeated over his lengthy, villainous career at his disposal, Conan the Barbarian may be doomed to repeat this cycle of brutal defeats for all of eternity, valiantly battling against the despot in vain.
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