Ultimate Invasion reveals new Kang the Conqueror variant

With the arrival of the new Ultimate Universe, a new Kang the Conqueror has also made their debut. How do they fit into the schemes of Ultimate Invasion?

The revival of the Ultimate universe is drawing to a close, as Ultimate Invasion released its penultimate issue today. The book is chock full of the exact kind of over-the-top nonsense you’d expect from the Ultimate Universe. 

The mystery of Ultimate Invasion has surrounded The Maker’s new, perfect universe, and who sent assassins from the future to kill him. With part of his brain damaged, The Maker is losing chunks of his memory and racing against time to put his ultimate plan into motion. 

While The Maker has plenty of enemies, Ultimate Invasion #3 seems to have finally revealed the most likely culprit: a brand new Ultimate take on Marvel Comics‘ most notorious time-traveling villain, Kang the Conqueror. 

Marvel introduces Kang the Conqueror’s Ultimate variant

Kang is revealed, albeit briefly, in the final pages of Ultimate Invasion #3. He remains in the far future, surrounded by genetically modified soldiers modeled after The Ultimates, the Ultimate take on The Avengers. 

Though Kang is the cliffhanger, there’s more going on with him than is being let on. The emblem on Kang’s chest matches the symbol on The Maker’s Immortus Engine. 

That connection shouldn’t be surprising. In the original 616 timeline, Immortus is the name of Kang’s oldest variant, a version of the Conqueror who grew tired of conquering. 

Whether this new Kang is Nathanial Richards or someone new remains a mystery, but there are plenty of suspects. The primary protagonist of Ultimate Invasion, Robert Stark, has pledged to stop The Maker but still isn’t quite sure what he’s doing.

There is also still the possibility that this is the original Ultimate Kang, which was a version of Sue Storm from another timeline. However, she is presumed to have been destroyed alongside other remnants of Earth-1610 when it merged with Earth-616.

Ultimate Invasion is just the first in a brand-new line from Marvel. The next step in the reboot is November’s Ultimate Universe #1, which promises to bring the scope of the new Ultimate line closer to the original concept. The original Ultimate Comics line was intended to create a new timeline in which popular characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men were freed from the shackles of their 60+ years of continuity.

Ultimate Comics originally ended when the Ultimate and 616 Universes were merged following Secret Wars. Only a few characters survived, such as Miles Morales, who was spared by Molecule Man, and the Maker, who snuck a piece of himself into every new universe that was created.

How this new Kang will factor into the new Ultimate Universe will surely be revealed in the coming months. For more Marvel and comic book news, make sure to check out all our coverage.