Loki’s newest season brought fans a lot of quality and memorable moments right from the beginning. With season 2 being one of the most important projects in phase 5 of the MCU, we can all but wonder, what will be the main goal of its story? The same goes not only for Loki’s story but also for the future of the MCU. Perhaps part of the answer lies with Victor Timely, who is introduced in the most recent season of the Disney+ series.
[Warning: Spoilers from MCU projects are below!]
Victor Timely and his history in Marvel
Victor Timely, as portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and drawing inspiration from Marvel Comics, is another incarnation of Kang the Conqueror and He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). If you recall, this variant’s first appearance was in the after-credit scene of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. In the comics, this enigmatic figure emerges as a distinctive Kang variant who meddles in the past events of Marvel’s timeline.
Victor Timely first appeared in Avengers Annual #21 in 1992, with his story crafted by the legendary Mark Gruenwald and artist Herb Trimpe. Within the Marvel Universe, Victor Timely serves as an alias employed by Kang the Conqueror when time-traveling to the year 1901. This alter-ego led to the establishment of Timely, Wisconsin. A town that becomes central to Kang’s elaborate schemes. The town serves as the backdrop for the creation of Timely Industries, a pivotal part of Kang’s plans, eventually contributing to the production of his time-travel equipment.
[For more about Kang and his variants in Marvel comics see our Kang Comics Reading Guide]
The MCU’s adaptation of Victor Timely teases us with a divergent story from the original character’s narrative. In Loki Season 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Victor Timely is portrayed as his own Variant, distinct from being merely a disguise used by Kang. This suggests that the MCU is taking a different approach to amplify the character’s impact by establishing its own unique storyline.
The character’s appearance in the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania showcases Victor Timely addressing an audience during the World’s Columbian Exposition, set in 1893, in Chicago, Illinois. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) observe Timely’s presentation, with only Loki, who saw what a terrifying persona He Who Remains is, scared to death of Victor Timely.
One notable aspect is the quantum entanglement of Timely, Wisconsin, with Kang’s city, Chronopolis, in the comics. While this entanglement was a pivotal element of the comics, it remains to be seen how the MCU will explore and adapt this concept, providing a unique twist to the upcoming narrative. In his own essence, Victor Timely emerges as a character layered with temporal intricacies, showing him as a crazy genius, with a lot of self-confidence. After all, he is a variant (or Kang in disguise) of one of the most dangerous beings in the Marvel world.
Victor Timely and his attendance at the World’s Columbian Exposition
The World’s Columbian Exposition was held in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to America. Its goal was to let innovators present their newest innovations, showcase technological advancements, and more. If someone had something to show to the world, that would change the course of history, it was at this exposition. The most brilliant minds joined this event to promote the newest achievements in science. And that’s not a coincidence Victor Timely is there. As could be seen, he presents to the world what looks like the “raw version” of Time Loom from the TVA.
Perhaps his goal is to modernize the current world faster in order to help his agenda. Or maybe to save it from the Council of Kangs? Either way, it will surely be revealed in the upcoming episodes of Loki. What I really want to talk about is the outcome of his decision to appear at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Because of his ahead-of-time inventions, he’s a man many might look up to. One of those people might be a young Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper).
Because of Timely’s immortality, in the comics he creates a series of robotic duplicates of himself, allowing him to publicly present as aging, therefore appearing mortal. He was posing as his own sons etc. So I think that due to his knowledge and being from the future, he knows who the Starks are. In order to further develop his influence on the modern world, he could help Starks for years. He could help them build that prototype of a flying car from Captain America: The First Avenger or even Captain America’s (Chris Evans) shield.
He’s a mastermind and could mentor Howard Stark and maybe even Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in some way before Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) takes over that role. Timely’s knowledge could have been used to not only make Howard Stark a respectful scientist but also help develop a meaningful persona for the world. It may be Timely who came up with a lot of projects that influenced the MCU, such as the idea to synthesize Vibranium from Iron Man 2.
If you rewatch the Iron Man movies carefully, you can see early on that Stark’s technology is the most advanced in the world (not including Wakanda). Interactive holograms, J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony’s knowledge – everything is far beyond the capabilities of this world. Even the big arc reactor from the first Iron Man movie is something that had an obvious use. Obadiah Stane said :
‘The arc was never cost-effective. We knew that before we built it.” (Iron Man)
They knew that because Howard Stark knew that. And when we think about it, it was rather impossible for him and Anton Vanko to know exactly what would happen back then. Not because they studied Tesseract’s energy, but because they knew it. So it seems likely that someone else could have told them the pros and cons before they even built it. If you take a look at Justin Hammer’s technology in Iron Man 2, it’s obvious that it may be stolen from Stark or other people, but he doesn’t know how to use it. I think that If Timely had lived in modern times, he could have helped him.
Hell, maybe Timely/Kang will somehow help Hammer when he returns in a future MCU project. But I’m pretty confident when I say this: Victor Timely and other Kangs like to show off. They aren’t modest, and they like to prove to others that they are the only ones who are right.
Victor Timely is a mysterious person, who isn’t who he seems. Knowing that Kang’s influence reaches far beyond the modern times of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s safe to assume that he had his hand in one of the most important events in its history. Maybe mentoring or manipulating the biggest minds of the past few centuries was the only way he could succeed; Doing something through the hands of other people.
Kang, Victor Timely and other variants and their purpose
Victor Timely is not the only variant of Kang the Conqueror. There’s an infinite amount of them. If you want, you can think of him as an Infinity Man, who is present everywhere, at any time, at any place, doing everything in the shadows. Preparing for Kang’s Dynasty and Secret Wars, and preparing the mysterious plans to conquer this world and the entire multiverse without any resistance. As we know, upcoming Phase 5 and Phase 6 projects are pivotal to the development of Kang’s story arc in the MCU.
But I do believe that it’s not the only reason Victor Timely or perhaps other variants may have manipulated/helped not only scientists but political figures throughout the years. I think that they were testing how far human beings can go without even realizing that they’re being used for “The Greater Purpose”. Testing the limits, pushing the barriers of morality, and blackmailing others without giving them other options. That’s what Kang does.
To see what’s going to happen with Victor Timely and other variants of Kang (or maybe the ORIGINAL Kang) we’ll just have to wait. As for now, Kang/Victor Timely will appear in the upcoming episodes of Loki season 2 as previously reported by our own Alex Perez. So the only way to experience the Kangmania is to patiently wait.
Loki season 2 is now streaming only on Disney+. Do you like it? Are you hyped to see Victor Timely and Kang? Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus and our own Discord channel.
Kang the Conqueror Reading Guide
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