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As the Savage Avengers approach Kang the Conqueror for help, the supervillain reveals what he has since done to rival time-travelers in the Marvel Universe.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Savage Avengers #25, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe moves deeper into Phase 4, one of the biggest antagonists to make their debut is Kang the Conqueror, with a more noble variant of the time-traveling master of the multiverse introduced at the end of Loki. And as the MCU continues to embrace the possibilities of the multiverse, both on the big screen and through the animated series What If… ?, the return of Kang in the comic book universe comes with an ominous reminder that he has earned his conquering moniker for a reason as he quietly showcases the grim fates of all the other time-traveling characters in the Marvel Universe.
Things have become increasingly dire for the fate of the Marvel Universe in the pages of Savage Avengers. The evil sorcerer and longtime Conan the Barbarian supervillain Kulan Gath has effectively conquered the entire world, easily crushing the Avengers and X-Men when the superheroes assembled to oppose his rise to power. With an older Conan as the last man standing against him, the Last Cimmerian takes control of one of Doctor Doom’s old suits of armor and travels through time to arrive at the headquarters of Kang, outside of the conventional bounds of the timeline, to ask for help. And as Conan and Kang tour the Conqueror’s personal home and archive in Savage Avengers #25 — by Gerry Duggan, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia and VC’s Travis Lanham — it becomes clear that while Gath rules the world, Kang rules all of time.
After an initial skirmish before the two frenemies lay down their arms, Kang welcomes Conan to Citadel Kang, the Castle Beyond Time, where he has accumulated his spoils from conquering various timelines. Adorning the halls as far as the eye can see is various heroes and villains that Kang has defeated across his adventures. One of the final chambers that Kang enters is a room that features Cable’s skeleton only with the preserved body of the Maestro, the villainous iteration of the Hulk from an alternate future. And rounding out this private tour is a visit to the garage where Kang reveals he has since claimed a time-traveling vessel developed by the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards.
When asked by an incredulous Conan how Kang was able to defeat so many powerful opponents, Kang observes that he is aware of all eventualities due to his unique perspective on the timeline. Historically, Kang himself has been defeated in numerous skirmishes against the Marvel superhero community either by surprise opponents arriving from elsewhere in the timestream or by cosmic and omnipotent forces working against him to upend his predicted victory. But judging by the spoils of war that Kang has gathered over the years, Kang has finally outsmarted the heroes, at least in this hellish timeline conquered by Kulan Gath.
For all of his posturing and his extensive trophy room, Kang the Conqueror is open to working with Conan, quietly revealing that Kulan Gath has out-anticipated even him, making his unlikely partnership with the Last Cimmerian mutually beneficial. With an infinite number of timelines, Kang has built up quite the impressive track record in dealing with the Marvel Universe’s biggest heroes, including its time-travelers, but against the dark magic of the ancient Kulan Gath, even this Conqueror finds himself outmatched and in dire need of help himself.
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