Avengers 5: The Kang Dynasty release date & latest news on MCU sequel

However, filming has yet to begin and, amid a slew of major changes to its movie schedule, the release date has now been delayed by a whopping 12 months.

Production delays and Hollywood’s ongoing writer's strike were reportedly behind the release date changes, according to Variety, which have also hit Avengers: Secret Wars, Thunderbolts, Deadpool 3, Fantastic Four, to name a few.

We might still have a long wait ahead of us for the sequel, but fortunately some major plot points have been introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which kicks off Marvel Phase 5.

This time, the Marvel film sees Paul Rudd’s subatomic superhero dive into the Quantum Realm to rescue his family, only to come across a major new villain: Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who is desperate to break free from his imprisonment.

Their battle has lasting repercussions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe that will continue to play out in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Read on for all the key details on Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Avengers 5: The Kang Dynasty release date

Avengers 5, The Kang Dynasty, has a confirmed release date of 1st May 2026.

That's a whole 12 months after its previous release date of 2nd May, 2025.

Avengers 5: The Kang Dynasty cast

No cast details have been confirmed for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty at this point, but there's one actor that we can surely expect to see: Jonathan Majors.

Majors — who you may have previously seen in Loki season 1, The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Lovecraft Country — has been cast as Kang in the MCU across various different projects.

As for who will be on the Avengers team that Kang faces, that remains a total mystery at this point, but when has that stopped fans from guessing?

Given the outcome of the previous Avengers film (Endgame), we wouldn't expect to see Robert Downey Jnr's Tony Stark/Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow or Chris Evans' Steve Rogers/Captain America in action this time out.

Of the original Avengers film's lineup, still active at this point are Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Chris Hemsworth's Thor, so they could perhaps appear in Avengers 5.

The same could be said for Brie Larson's Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson/Captain America, Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Tom Holland's Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Paul Rudd's Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly's Hope Pym/The Wasp, all of whom fought alongside the Avengers recently.

Simu Liu's Shang-Chi was introduced to Earth's mightiest heroes at the end of his first film, so he seems like a shoo-in for the Kang showdown as well. And given that Tom Hiddleston's Loki is already caught up in the Kang conflict (which will surely ripple throughout Loki season 2), his inclusion here wouldn't be that surprising either.

It will be interesting to see how the stars of Marvel's Disney Plus shows factor in here — could we see the likes of Tatiana Maslany's She-Hulk, Iman Vellani's Ms Marvel, Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight, Hailee Steinfeld's Hawkeye and Charlie Cox's Daredevil getting involved here? And what about Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova from Black Widow?

That's not to mention the Guardians of the Galaxy, who will have had their third film in cinemas by this point in the grand release timeline. There will already be a Fantastic Four film in the MCU by this point, as well. Who knows if we'll have X-Men by then? Of course, only time will tell who gets roped in this time!

Avengers 5: The Kang Dynasty plot

A variant of Kang – who is a well-known character to comic book readers – had previously made an appearance in the Loki season 1 finale on Disney Plus.

However, as detailed above, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania properly introduces us to Kang for the first time.

During the film, we learn that Kang has been imprisoned in the Quantum Realm by a number of other Kang variants, but in the end he is murdered by Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne.

In a mid-credits scene, we are introduced to the Council of Kangs led by a variant named Immortus who has labelled the Avengers a major threat - and has called a meeting of all the other Kangs to begin their revenge scheme against the Avengers.

So, it looks like we’ll be seeing different variants appear in MCU projects from now on, including Victor Timely in Loki season 2 and a Skrull variant in Secret Invasion. This will likely lead up to a battle in Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.

Talking about Kang’s future role in the franchise, Quantumania director Peyton Reed has teased that the character "changes everything" in the MCU.

"It was sort of determined midway through [production] that we were going to be the beginning of Phase 5," he explained during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com. "And I always ask [Kevin] Feige, like, what does the phase actually mean?

"But I think for us, it really meant... it was Kang, right? The thing that sets him apart as an antagonist is there is Kang the Conqueror, who is featured in Quantumania. But he's a Nexus Being – there are variants of Kang.

"And what happens if you introduce a villain who's fighting our heroes, but he is separately at war with all the different versions of himself? And what does that mean for the ongoing Marvel Universe?

"Well, it changes everything that's happening," he added. "And at the same time, the Avengers, you know, in Doctor Strange and Spider-Man and certainly in Loki, they're becoming aware of the existence of the multiverse.

"And there might be these sort of incursions into the multiverse, and what does that mean for the Kangs? So it's setting up a lot of that stuff."

How does the Loki finale introduce Kang the Conquerer?

Jonathan Majors played 'He Who Remains' in the Loki finale, with this character being established as one of many different versions of Kang (each dimension in the vast multiverse could have its own variation, after all).

He Who Remains explained that one of his 'variants' (other versions of Kang from other universes) was a scientist from Earth who lived in the 31st century. The scientist discovered a way to travel between universes, going on to meet different versions of himself from other dimensions.

Initially, relations between the universes were peaceful, with the Kang variants sharing technology and knowledge (and complimenting each other on their shoes, hair and so on). However, as He Who Remains put it, "not every version of me was so pure of heart."

Other versions of Kang saw other universes as "new lands to be conquered", and the situation "erupted into all-out war" — each variant tried to protect their own universe and "annihilate the others", to such an extent that "this was almost the end, ladies and gentlemen, of everything."

Luckily, that first variant found a creature called Alioth that was "capable of consuming time and space itself." As He Who Remains put it, "I weaponised Alioth, and I ended the multiversal war." He created one singular timeline and managed it from afar to "prevent any other branches" from appearing, stopping his variants from rising to power and starting the war again.

However, the events of the Loki finale broke the so-called "sacred timeline" and set the multiverse free, seemingly setting in motion the parallel universes that we've now seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

With all of that context, it seems safe to assume that Kang's variants are rising in the background, no longer kept in check by He Who Remains and his sacred timeline. Eventually, their multiversal war could start up again, potentially pushing the Avengers to intervene.

In the comics, if you were wondering, Kang's real name is Nathaniel Richards and he is a descendant of Reed Richards from the Fantastic Four. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, and he was a time-travel-obsessed genius that became a galactic warlord.

Kang Dynasty was the name given to a 16-part comic-book series that began in 2001. In that series, which is also known as Kang War, Kang came to the 21st century and succeeded in taking control of the planet - he's said to be the first Marvel Comics villain to actually succeed in achieving global domination. Of course, the Avengers eventually overthrew him. Perhaps we'll see a similar plot in the film!

Is there a trailer for Avengers 5: The Kang Dynasty?

There's no trailer yet for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, no. However, we'll keep this page updated when one drops!

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will hit cinemas on 2nd May 2025, before eventually streaming on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus for £79.99 a year and £7.99 a month.

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