A variant of Kang the Conqueror had just traveled thousands of years in the worst form of time travel to defeat a future version of himself.
WARNING: The following contains important spoilers for Kang the Conqueror # 3, available now at Marvel.
As long as he’s part of the Marvel Universe, Kang the Conqueror is one of his most important time travelers, no matter what Name or title he could have in any given era. Of course, Kang is nowhere near the only one who has mastered this particular craft, but few have been as dedicated as Nathaniel Richards. And in Kang the Conqueror # 3 by Jackson Lanzing, Colin Kelly, Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern and Joe Caramagna from VC, his newest twist has just proven how far he wants to go by making the longest travel back in time, with a little help from one can imagine Apocalypse yourself, not to mention a few thousand years of patience.
Nathaniel Richards sensed that Cruelty of his future self firsthand and on more than one occasion. His tutelage under Kang ended with Nathaniel stealing away with the armor of his future self, leaving the despot for dead on primeval earth, only to be the victim of another version of himself in the form of. to become Rama-tut. Of course, Rama-Tut’s realm would be brought to its knees by the intervention of the Fantastic Four, and ancient Egypt would be ruled by another classic villain.
En Sabah Nur, better known as the Apocalypse, quickly filled the power vacuum that had left Rama-Tut’s defeat, only to find that a younger version of his enemy offered him a chance to strike back one more time. Both Nathaniel and Apocalypse had more than enough reasons to see the older Kang fall, despite having few opportunities to catch up with him. With no time machine available, Nathaniel instead took the long walk through the centuries, sealing up in a sarcophagus and having to wait.
Apocalypse was able to ensure that Nathaniel’s body would not age or be damaged during the thousands of years it had sealed in his tomb, but there was nothing that could be done about his mind. Nathaniel Richards couldn’t sleep through his journey and was forced to lie in silence with his thoughts and memories while he waited to be discovered in the then distant future. That fate wasn’t the worst any version of Nathaniel had suffered, but the mental toll it took on him was undeniable. Year after year he fixated on the losses he had suffered as well as those his older self had foretold.
As much as he tried to prepare to stand up triumphantly over every version of Kang that awaited him, the failures to come continued to flood him, particularly the death of Ravonna Renslayer. The loss of Ravonna, which Nathaniel focused on for 26,000 years, even when there is no way to know if there is even an option to save her.
Seeing Nathaniel Richards struggle so hard in his quest for his future self may not be the most shocking given how much damage Kang did him, but the method is still undoubtedly terrible. Especially given the futuristic sci-fi means with which Kang the Conqueror so typically traverses the ages, underscores the fact that any version of him that is considered buried alive only adds to how deep Nathaniel Richards’ disgust opposite to his future self.
About the author
John Dodge
(1104 articles published)
John Dodge has been an avid consumer of comics and nerd culture for as long as he can remember. An expert on competitive games and obscure kids’ shows from the 80s and 90s, John has way too many opinions about Beetleborgs for someone in their thirties. You can occasionally find him on Twitter at @JohnJDodge discussing them.
