How Is Kang The Conqueror Related To The Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards?

Reed Richards is a powerful and highly intelligent man, and his father is on a very similar level. Nathaniel Richards is every bit as smart as his stretchy son, and also a time-traveler who has a bunch of cool gadgets for both combat and science situations. At one point, he ends up in an advanced alternate universe, where his bloodline eventually produces an academically-minded descendant who’s also called Nathaniel. This future Nathaniel eventually becomes Kang the Conqueror, after a time traveling mistake gives him access to weapons that are futuristic even in the far-future setting he hails from. 

There’s a whole ton of time-traveling and alternate-universe scenarios here, and it doesn’t exactly simplify matters that there are various different versions of Kang, and Nathaniel also has other super-identities — including Marvel villain Immortus. What’s more, his “definitely related but good luck drawing up the family tree” situation may extend even further than Reed Richards: There’s also a familial link to Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom. 

As comic book families go, Kang is one all unto himself, and the fact that he has a connection to Reed Richards only makes things more interesting. Even with the MCU’s ongoing multiversal shenanigans, his full backstory may need a little simplifying to avoid confusing the audiences — so it’ll be interesting to see whether the live-action version will be related to Reed, or if the movies and shows will ignore the connection altogether.   

Reed Richards is a powerful and highly intelligent man, and his father is on a very similar level. Nathaniel Richards is every bit as smart as his stretchy son, and also a time-traveler who has a bunch of cool gadgets for both combat and science situations. At one point, he ends up in an advanced alternate universe, where his bloodline eventually produces an academically-minded descendant who’s also called Nathaniel. This future Nathaniel eventually becomes Kang the Conqueror, after a time traveling mistake gives him access to weapons that are futuristic even in the far-future setting he hails from. 

There’s a whole ton of time-traveling and alternate-universe scenarios here, and it doesn’t exactly simplify matters that there are various different versions of Kang, and Nathaniel also has other super-identities — including Marvel villain Immortus. What’s more, his “definitely related but good luck drawing up the family tree” situation may extend even further than Reed Richards: There’s also a familial link to Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom. 

As comic book families go, Kang is one all unto himself, and the fact that he has a connection to Reed Richards only makes things more interesting. Even with the MCU’s ongoing multiversal shenanigans, his full backstory may need a little simplifying to avoid confusing the audiences — so it’ll be interesting to see whether the live-action version will be related to Reed, or if the movies and shows will ignore the connection altogether.