Marvel Officially Brings Back Kang 2 Years After the MCU Cancelled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for X-Men ’97 Season 2, episode 3. In the second episode of X-Men ’97 Season 2, after showing the X-Men’s battle with the fully-powered Apocalypse and the defeat of his nightmarish Horsemen, the story jumps back to the distant past (after a brief trip to the present where we meet X-Factor and Cable’s X-Force), to show how En Sabah Nur became Apocalypse. And just as he was in the comics, another God-tier Marvel villain plays a major part in that journey, and he’s one who very briefly appeared in the MCU – and should have played an even bigger role.

In the ancient Egyptian timeline of X-Men ’97 Season 2, it’s revealed that Rama-Tut rules the kingdom as a despotic overlord, and En Sabah Nur has grown to despise the ruler for his treatment of his people. He vows revenge, putting him on a collision course with the villain, who is, of course, revealed in comics lore to be Kang the Conqueror. In effect, X-Men ’97 establishes that a multiverse variant of Kang was responsible for Apocalypse’s rise, mirroring – though not exactly – how his origin plays out in the comics. And given the MCU’s history with Kang, it’s a particularly notable decision given even more weight by what didn’t happen.

Rama-Tut Was Supposed to be A Major Part of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

He may not have been named on screen, but Rama-Tut appeared in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania‘s mid-credits scene. Wearing the instantly recognizable outfit of an Egyptian pharaoh, he was introduced as one of the three leaders of the Council of Kangs, alongside Immortus and Centurion. All three, of course, were played by Jonathan Majors, whose sacking led to Marvel’s retooling of Avengers 5 and the start of the path we are now on to Avengers: Doomsday. But before that, The Kang Dynasty would have built on the Quantumania stinger, in which Rama-Tut (AKA Victory Timely) and the other Kang Council leaders summoned every available Kang variant to mount an invasion on Earth to take out the Avengers, who are viewed as a threat to their multiversal dynasty. Ultimately, The Kang Dynasty was cancelled in July 2024 as Majors was fired, and Robert Downey Jr’s return as Doctor Doom was announced.

Surprisingly little of The Kang Dynasty‘s plot has actually leaked, but Quantumania’s credits scene positions Rama-Tut as a key player, and it’s likely those three would have been the most prominent Kangs to give the Council more depth than would have been possible with a mob of thousands. Ultimately, with The Kang Dynasty‘s cancellation and Marvel Studios’ apparent decision to abandon the storyline altogether, MCU fans have now been robbed of several great Marvel villains at once. But at least X-Men ’97 Season 2 offers some insight into the character and the devastation he caused to En Sabah Nur’s timeline. It’s unlikely this is the same Rama-Tut variant, given Marvel Animation somewhat wisely chose not to use Majors’ likeness, but it’s still an interesting footnote in Kang’s lost MCU journey. And creating Apocalypse is still an impressive legacy to claim.

The first three episodes of X-Men ’97 are streaming now on Disney+, and new episodes will be released weekly. Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!