A popular Disney + series is taking on the abandoned story of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. It is unclear if this was meant to be a tie-in before the MCU moved in its new, current direction. In any case, the show offers a taste of what might have been if the MCU utilized one of Marvel‘s most dangerous villains.
The adaptation plays out in the second season of X-Men ’97 and the two-part episode “Rise of Apocalypse.” The episodes build on the cliffhanger ending of the first season, where Beast, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Magneto, and Professor X find themselves stranded in ancient Egypt. Here, they befriend En Sabah Nur, the first Mutant and the man who became the villain Apocalypse.
En Sabah Nur was a former slave whose quest for power started with leading a revolt against a wicked pharaoh named Rama-Tut. That name may be familiar to Marvel Comics readers as one of the many aliases of Kang. However, X-Men ’97 does not address this connection until the second half of “Rise of Apocalypse,” where Rama-Tut reaches out to Professor X psychically, using advanced technology resembling the X-Men’s Cerebro system.
Rama-Tut warns Charles Xavier against trying to change En Sabah Nur. He claims he saw the X-Men make multiple attempts to redeem him and they all failed. And yet, Kang wishes Professor X success as he wishes to claim the Celestial artifact that originally created Apocalypse.
Unfortunately, the X-Men fail to convince En Sabah Nur not to turn his powers towards destruction in this timeline as well. Rama-Tut abandons his followers as Apocalypse attacks his kingdom. However, his identity is finally confirmed as he dons the classic Kang the Conqueror armor before vanishing for parts and times unknown.
How X-Men ’97 recreates the Kang Dynasty story
In his conversation with Professor X, Rama-Tut makes reference to having many names, including “Nathaniel, Victor (and) Kang.” This references other characters who were aspects of Kang; industrialist Victor Timely and Nathaniel Richards, father of Reed Richards. Beyond showing the scope of Kang’s influence, this also teases the MCU’s setup for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Originally, actor Jonathan Majors was going to play multiple variants of Kang across the MCU. Audiences saw part of this plan play out in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The storyline would have seen multiple heroes face Kang and seemingly beat him, only for him to reemerge seemingly unscathed. Ultimately, this would have built to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and the superheroes of many timelines uniting to stop Kang.
It is unknown if Kang will go on to play a larger role in X-Men ’97 Season 2. It seems unlikely, as the series is already occupied with the machinations of Apocalypse. Regardless, the “Rise of Apocalypse” storyline still offers a taste of what the MCU might have been.
Originally reported by Matt Morrison for SuperHeroHype.
