Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Loki season 2
Summary
- Kang the Conqueror is seemingly killed in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but there are multiple versions of Kang that could still be revealed.
- The Council of Kangs is assembling and may pose a major threat to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
- Phase 5 introduces a new Guardians of the Galaxy team led by Rocket, with new members including Cosmo, Kraglin, Phyla, and Adam Warlock. It remains to be seen if they will receive their own MCU project.
- Secret Invasion confirmed Earth’s massive Skrull population, debuted one of the MCU’s most powerful heroes, and created a new Human-Skrull War.
- Loki season 2 saw the multiverse collapsing under it’s own weight with the destruction of the entire MCU timeline.
The MCU is currently in Phase 5, featuring some major changes with many having ramifications for the entire multiverse. There have also been changes to classic teams as well as new heroes rising with arguably ridiculous power levels. While it’s only just begun, Phase 5 is quickly on its way to becoming one of the biggest and most explosive new eras for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel’s Phase 5 officially began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and its debut of a new variant for Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror. This was followed by James Gunn’s Guardians of the GalaxyVol. 3 as well as two shows. While Secret Invasion starring Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury premiered on Disney+ in June and ended in late July, Loki season 2 premiered in early October. As seen in four projects, here are 10 major changes that Phase 5 has brought to the MCU.
10 Kang The Conqueror Is Dead
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
As seen at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Kang the Conqueror was seemingly killed following the resistance in the Quantum Realm led by Ant-Man and his family. Pulled into his multiversal engine core used to power his Time Sphere, this Exiled Kang looks to be no more. This was rather shocking considering how accurate this version of Kang looked to the original Conqueror seen in the comics. However, there are several different versions of Kang, and it’s possible that the Prime Kang has yet to be revealed.
9 Council Of Kangs Revealed As Major Multiverse Threat
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Cast in point, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s post-credits scene revealed that the MCU’s Council of Kangs has begun to assemble in Phase 5. Led by a triumvirate of Kang variants known as Immortus, Rama-Tut, and the Centurion, these Kangs from the comics (also played by Jonathan Majors) may just be the major threat whom Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will face in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty releasing in 2026. Fearing that heroes will soon dismantle everything they’ve built within the multiverse, legions of Kangs are coming together from countless realities, looking to be a massively powerful new threat for the MCU.
8 Phase 5 Debuts A New Guardians of The Galaxy Team
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
As seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a new team has been formed after the original Guardians decided to go their separate ways, embarking on new adventures. While Drax and Nebula are leading Knowhere and all its new residents, Mantis is going to explore the cosmos while Peter Quill’s Star-Lord has finally returned to Earth to reunite with his grandfather. Now, Rocket is the leader of a new team of Guardians alongside Groot. These new members include Cosmo, Kraglin, Phyla, and Adam Warlock, though its unknown if this new team will receive their own MCU project in the future.
7 Earth Is Home To A Massive Skrull Population
Secret Invasion
During the events of Secret Invasion, Nick Fury’s Skrull ally Talos revealed a major secret he’d been keeping from the new director of SWORD ever since he was snapped by Thanos the Mad Titan. During the five-year span known as the Blip, Talos put out a call inviting refugee Skrulls to make Earth their home. As such, Talos admitted to Fury that there are now over a million Skrulls in the MCU who are now living on Earth. As such, this revelation came as a shock to Fury just as much as MCU fans.
6 Nick Fury’s Secret Avengers DNA Project
Secret Invasion
With the villain Gravik seeking powers to replicate as a Super-Skrull in Secret Invasion, it was revealed that Nick Fury had collected the DNA of several Avengers (and villains) in the aftermath of the Battle of Earth seen in Avengers: Endgame. Known as The Harvest, this secret project is quite unethical and naturally one of Fury’s biggest secrets. As such, there could be major problems in the MCU down the line if the Avengers ever find out about what Fury did without their consent, putting their collective powers together as one incredibly dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.
5 The MCU Has A New Most Powerful Superhero
Secret Invasion
Thanks to Project Harvest in Secret Invasion, Gravik did indeed gain all of these powers and abilities, becoming an absolute powerhouse the likes of which has never been seen before in the MCU, having access to so many different Avenger abilities simultaneously. Thankfully, Talos’ daughter Gi’ah received the powers of The Harvest as well which she used to kill Gravik before he could end humanity. In the aftermath, Gi’ah’s Super-Skrull has now become one of the most powerful MCU superheroes of all time. She’s also agreed to work with MI6’s Sonya Falsworth as seen in Secret Invasion’s finale.
4 Humanity At War With Skrulls
Secret Invasion
Remarkably, Nick Fury returns to SWORD in Earth’s orbit at the end of Secret Invasion, leaving the planet arguably worse off than he found it. Although Gravik was defeated and his plans to kickstart WWIII were foiled, humanity now knows about the existence of the Skrull population on Earth. US President Ritson has also declared war on extraterrestrials, resulting in a major wave of Human-Skrull aggression and violence which seems to be continuing beyond the show’s finale. This could also have negative ramifications for Earth’s population of Asgardians as well.
3 The MCU Multiverse Has Been Freed (After He Who Remains’ Death)
Loki Season 2
The premiere of Loki season 2 confirms that Sylvie killing Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains has led to a major expansion of the MCU multiverse, creating new branch realities and timelines, something that was teased in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with the emergence of He Who Remains’ variants whose existence he was trying to prevent by maintaining the Sacred Timeline. As such, the boundaries and constraints of the MCU multiverse are confirmed to have been broken in the premiere of Loki season 2.
2 The Multiverse Is Collapsing Under Its Own Weight
Loki Season 2
Unfortunately, the systems created by the TVA created to keep the MCU timeline stable are coming undone. This was seen with the confirmation in Loki season 2 that the Temporal Loom used to weave together the Sacred Timeline was being overloaded with the massive influx of new branches. Although Loki and his allies at the TVA came up with a plan to stabilize the Loom, it seems to have been a lost cause with the multiverse effectively collapsing under its own new weight.
1 The MCU Timeline Explodes
Loki Season 2
Shockingly, the very thing the TVA was trying to prevent happened as seen in Loki season 2, episode 4. The entire MCU timeline came apart in a massive explosion to temporal energy and radiation, seemingly destroying the entire TVA and those within (including Loki). Following the end of the episode, there’s no clear way as to how everything might be restored, it seems clear that the temporal explosion has resulted in a major change for the MCU going forward as Phase 5 continues.