Loki’s Villain Explained: He Who Remains Comics Backstory & MCU Future

The Loki villain in season 1 was He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding at an unprecedented rate, with Loki officially introducing Marvel’s Multiverse. The timeline naturally skews towards chaos; any moment has the potential to serve as a so-called “Nexus Event,” creating a new branch in the timeline. Branches can be created by something as spectacular as starting a war, or something as mundane as being late for work. Unfortunately, different branches of the Multiverse became aware of one another – and the result was all-out war. The last time it happened, it came close to destroying all time and space.

One figure emerged victorious – the shadowy founder of the Time Variance Authority, who set about ensuring no threats could ever emerge to destroy the sacred timeline. Content to operate at the End of Time, this was “He Who Remains,” and he charged the TVA to police the timeline and destroy branches as swiftly as they were created. Those responsible for the branched realities go on trial for crimes against the “Sacred Timeline,” banished to a void where they are consumed by Alioth. But who is He Who Remains – and how does he figure in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, given he was killed by Sylvie?

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Who Is He Who Remains – Comics Origin Explained

In the comics, He Who Remains is a very different figure. The last of his race, he understood the universe to exist in a cycle of death and rebirth; he first appeared as the creator of a group known as the Time-Twisters, who he intended to convey the knowledge of one universe into the next, but who proved to be a terrifying force of destruction. He Who Remains subsequently became the founder of the Time Variance Authority, using them to try to police the timeline – with mixed success.

The MCU’s version of He Who Remains bears some similarities to the comic book version, in that he resides at a Citadel at the End of Time, but he’s been combined with an entirely different character. Played by Jonathan Majors, the MCU’s He Who Remains is actually a variant of the Multiversal villain Kang the Conqueror. According to He Who Remains, in most timelines, it was variants of Kang who discovered the existence of the Multiverse sometime in the 32nd century, and they initially traded knowledge peacefully. Unfortunately, not all variants of Kang were peaceful, and Multiversal war was the result.

He Who Remains was Kang triumphant because he had discovered Alioth, a creature he could use to consume his counterparts and all their timelines; this fits well with the comics, where Alioth is a creature who feeds on the temporal energy of living beings and has indeed consumed entire Parliaments of Kangs. Victorious over all his enemies, He Who Remains established the TVA – ostensibly to prevent another Multiversal war, but likely also to preserve his own power base. Now, having lived for millions of years, he has grown tired and wishes to retire. Thus he has orchestrated events to bring Loki and Sylvie into his presence to replace him.

Kang The Conqueror Origin & Powers Explained

Loki’s villain Kang is typically portrayed as a warlord who was born in the 30th century of a timeline where Earth never entered the Dark Ages. His story is a confusing one because Kang has taken to traveling throughout his own lifetime to rewrite his personal history. Because his past and future impede upon one another, he’s essentially a living paradox, a temporal event of creation and destruction. Kang’s timeline has splintered on many occasions, and variants of Kang have adopted countless different identities. One served as Iron Lad, founder of the Young Avengers, while others such as Immortus and the Scarlet Centurion have plagued the Avengers as enemies.

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Ironically, while Kang insists he is a conqueror, he has no real free will – for he has written his own past, trapping himself and removing freedom of choice. The center of Kang’s rule lies in the city of Chronopolis, which sits in a realm outside time called Limbo. Each block of Chronopolis extends to the ends of the Earth in a different time period, with more primitive periods on the outskirts, and more advanced ones towards the center. It is dominated by Kang’s Citadel, and it’s possible to get lost in Chronopolis forever unless you find the hidden portals connecting the different blocks.

A scientific genius, Kang mastered feats of time travel that few others have imagined. His grasp of practical and theoretical science exceeds any superhero scientist in the comics. Because Kang travels the timeline with impunity, he has access to almost every weapon ever created. He’s known for deploying weapons such as neutrino rays and “vibration ray” projectors, and he even possesses rare artifacts such as the Cosmic Cube – allowing him to rewrite reality. Kang wears battle armor beyond anything Iron Man could ever create, designed to summon his arsenal of weapons with a snap of his fingers.

Kang Appeared In Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

Surprisingly, the first place that He Who Remains showed up in the MCU movies was in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This film saw Jonathan Majors return as the character, this time using his proper name of Kang, which he never used as the Loki villain. Of course, the Loki villain is dead and Ant-Man 3 ensured that fact remained in place in the post-credit scenes. However, this version of Kang was trying to do what He Who Remains tried to do – and that was stopping the multiversal war that could destroy all timelines.

Instead, he was banished to the Quantum Realm by the Council of Kangs and remained there trying to find a way out. Unlike He Who Remains, who was content to destroy timelines in a snap when they went off the chosen path, this Kang was a conqueror, and he destroyed entire civilizations in the Quantum Realm. However, he too is now seemingly dead, and this opens the door for the other Kangs in the timestream to finally start their plans of domination once again, in what will last for the new few years in the MCU.

Related: Why Victor Timely Is An Important Kang Variant

Where Kang Will Appear In The MCU Next

It is most likely that the next time Kang shows up in the MCU, it will be in Loki season 2. The next Loki villain was hinted at in the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania post-credits when Loki and Mobius find a Kang variant working at an old-fashioned stage show. However, there is a chance he could show up in any number of places, in any number of forms. Immortus and Rama Tut showed up in the post-credits of Ant-Man 3, but there is also Iron Lad, who wanted to stop his evil self. This opens up limitless possibilities outside of Loki and the Avengers movies in the next phase.

Loki Sets Up Multiple Villain Variants

Loki and Anr-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania doesn’t just set up the introduction of one Kang. It shows there are multiple variants emerging from the Multiverse, waging war against one another, and teaming with one another. Variants of Kang could be as wide-ranging as the variant versions of Loki that have already been seen. Jonathan Majors can play Kang, Immortus, the Scarlet Centurion, and the Warlord, different variants whose backstories and motives differ. A Kang variant is also clearly in control of the TVA still, as a major Loki villain.

In addition to Majors, though, Marvel could also hire other actors to play more radically divergent versions – just as they cast Richard E. Grant as an older Loki, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, and introduced an Alligator Loki to boot. The potential here is unlimited – and it isn’t necessarily the case all variants have to be villains, either. The Multiversal aspect of the MCU’s Kang means they can cast Iron Lad as a member of the Young Avengers, connecting him back to Cassie Lang. The MCU’s Disney+ TV shows have been setting up a number of Young Avengers, and it would make sense for Marvel to pursue that direction after Loki.

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