WARNING: Spoilers follow for Avengers: Mech Strike #3 by Jed Mackay, Carlos Magno, Guru-eFX & VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
What started as a giant Avengers robot battle turned into something much more, involving time travel and the destruction of the world. It also included the arrival of not one but two major Avengers villains from the multiverse.
The first villain arrived in Avengers Mech-Strike #2 when Kang showed up and proved to be the villain responsible for this giant mech attack against Earth. He brought the Avengers to their knees and took out one of their greatest warriors in Black Panther. On the final page of the new issue, an even greater villain showed up, and this one was here to help the Avengers. Thanos has arrived.
The Avengers were losing badly to the mech robots that Kang created and set loose on the Earth. Kang had taken control of Avengers Mountain, a celestial that was now feeding him cosmic energies and tearing a hole in the fabric of the universe. Kang used the celestial to open portals to different eras and sent everything after the heroes, including dinosaurs. While Spider-Man and Captain Marvel worked together, they noticed a ship arriving, and Spider-Man recognized it immediately. At that moment, the ship fired a blast and saved them.
Kang looked very overconfident, and his overconfidence might be his undoing. As he watched, Captain Marvel called down to the Avengers and told them she was teleporting them out and did so. Kang seemed amused, wondering where they went, looking at this as one big game. However, he might have a different outlook when he realizes that Thanos brought them in and planned to join the fight. Thanos entered as only he could, saying they knew him so he wouldn't have to kill one of them to establish his dominance before asking who Kang is so he can kill him.
It seems unrealistic to think that the Avengers can trust Thanos completely. The preview for the next issue shows Tony Stark plans to provide Thanos with armor similar to the armor he created for his Avengers teammates. Knowing Stark, he would likely have created a failsafe where he could shut that armor down if Thanos turned his attention on the Avengers. Thanos is someone who has destroyed half the universe, but he is also someone who fought alongside the heroes in the past to save the universe from a greater threat when he took on Magus in Infinity War. At the end of the day, Thanos is a legitimate ally when needed.
With that said, Avengers Mech-Strike just got very exciting. Who will win a fight between Kang and Thanos? It is a debate that could likely find fans on both sides, and now Marvel is giving those fans a chance to see it play out in a comic. Thanos was the primary antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until Avengers: Endgame. From all accounts, Kang will take a big role in the movies coming up, with him appearing in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania in 2022. That fact will make this a fascinating battle to watch, as fans wonder how the MCU will make things harder on Earth's Mightiest Heroes after Thanos almost destroyed everything. Kang and Thanos are about to go to war, and the Avengers have to hope their greatest enemy from the past can beat their next big bad.