Lovecraft Country's Jonathan Majors reportedly lands role of Kang the Conquerer in Ant-Man 3

Ant-Man 3 has reportedly found its main villain.

According to Deadline, the pint-sized threequel will feature Lovecraft Country's Jonathan Majors in the role of Kang the Conquerer. Since Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) was the key to time travel in Avengers: Endgame, it only makes sense that his next antagonist is a temporally displaced baddie whose greatest ambition is (you guessed it!) to become ruler of the universe.

"Sources add that like with so many new characters in the MCU, there could be a twist with how the character is featured in future films, but as of now he is likely to be one of the main villains in the next installment in the franchise," writes Deadline.

Taking many different names over the years, Kang (created by — who else? — Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) has faced off with a good chunk of Marvel's heroes since he first debuted in the early 1960s. What makes the character so dangerous is his ability to hop through various timelines and alternate dimensions at will. As such, he can alter and (as his title suggests) conquer any reality without the need for an Infinity Stone. With this in mind, we wonder if the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be setting up its next Big Bad. And did we mention that Kang is also a descendant of Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four? Yeah, it's the perfect excuse to finally introuduce the FF into the MCU!

Learn more about Kang in the video below:

Majors, who currently plays Atticus Freeman on the Lovecraft Country TV adaptation, is also known for roles in movies like The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Da 5 Bloods.

Peyton Reed, who helmed the first two entries, is returning to direct Ant-Man 3 from a script written by Rick and Morty vet Jeff Loveness. Rudd is coming back to portray Lang, while Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas are expected to reprise their roles of Hope van Dyne (aka the Wasp) and Professor Hank Pym, respectively.

Earlier this month, Reed teased that the film "is going to be a much bigger [and] more sprawling movie than the first two." He added that it's "going to have a very different visual template" than its predecessors. Now that Pandora's Quantum Realm Box has been opened, the creative team is free to lean into the unabashed psychedelic nature of the '60s-era comics whence Ant-Man came.

Marvel Studios plans to start production in January 2021. The film is scheduled for release sometime in 2022.