Written by lead vocalist Jared Leto across the United States and South Africa, the track was produced by Flood, Steve Lillywhite and Thirty Seconds to Mars.

The accompanying music video, directed by Jared Leto, features Thirty Seconds to Mars and a group of followers on a Critical Mass movement through Los Angeles at night.

Thirty Seconds to Mars performed the song on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien featuring the Street Drum Corps, and included it on the setlist of the Into the Wild Tour.

The song was recorded by Ryan Williams and Matt Radosevich at The International Centre for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences of Sound in Los Angeles, California.

[2] Leto constructed the lyrics of "Kings and Queens" across two different continents; the idea was conceived on a flight from the United States and realised upon touchdown in South Africa.

[7] Jared Leto explained that the title and theme of the track were inspired by a book found at the band's South African work space, but that it "ended up being a good metaphor" for world events from the past year.

"[8] Kelly Staskel of Billboard felt that "stately drums and dramatic strings" are paired with lyrics that take on a "stark, apocalyptic tone", referring to the last verse of the song, which says "The age of man is over / A darkness comes and all / These lessons that we learned here / Have only just begun".

[10] Alex Useman of The Husky Herald described the song saying, "'Kings and Queens' starts out with a soft piano melody and instantly picks up as the drum kicks in.

She praised the song saying, "a chorus chants behind singer Jared Leto's smooth, powerful voice, evoking the collective thrill of a live show.

[12] Andrew Ellis from Melodic magazine felt that the song features all the elements of the band's previous single "From Yesterday" mixed with higher vocal patterns and a "great sing along chorus".

[16] Alex Lai from Contactmusic gave the song a positive review, noticing that it opens up with a "tidal wave of 'woah' vocals, galloping strings" and features a chorus to "shake the foundations of the arenas".

Leto explained, "I think this city is a beautiful place at night, and we have these empty streets, and it's kind of a haunting, forgotten landscape... very serene.

[24] The music video features a Critical Mass crank mob movement, founded with forward-thinking and eco-conscious intentions, on a nighttime journey from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier.

From the scenic view of the city's skyline, the cast, crew and other members wrapped up and headed to downtown Los Angeles for scenes involving a horse and a fire thrower, among others.

[26] Some of the cyclists are dressed as the Baseball Furies gang from the 1979 film The Warriors, and at one point a frame meticulously recreates underground artist Banksy's Flower Chucker graffiti.

In the video also appears a horse running down a deserted city street in slow motion, which was described as a surreal and fantastic vision of downtown Los Angeles.

James Montgomery from MTV felt that the video "is most definitely a massive thing, but it's a spiritual endeavor, too: a celebration of a band, their fans and an unyielding sense of purpose".

[21] Joe Bosso of MusicRadar was impressed by the video and felt that "the beautifully shot clip" is a "reverent nod" to directors Akira Kurosawa and Walter Hill.

[28] August Brown from the Los Angeles Times opined that with "raging wildfires and white stallion" that joins them, Thirty Seconds to Mars "hasn't lost its taste for the epic".

[30] Kyle Anderson from MTV believed that although the premise and approach of the music video is "relatively simple" and does not feature special effects, it is "actually an incredibly cinematic, wholly satisfying experience".

magazine included "Kings and Queens" among the best music videos by Thirty Seconds to Mars, noting that "the band never shy away from a challenge, making full use of frontman Jared Leto's Hollywood experience and delivering huge, concept-based short films.

[35][36] On December 10, 2009, Thirty Seconds to Mars performed "Kings and Queens" on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien featuring the Street Drum Corps, a string quartet and ten-person choir.

[41] On May 13, 2011, Thirty Seconds to Mars recorded a performance for the television program MTV Unplugged during which they played an acoustic version of "Kings and Queens" featuring musicians from the Vitamin String Quartet.

[55] In the 2018 episode "Ask the Dust" (S04E01) of the TV series Bosch, a parade of cyclists ride by at night with flashing headlighted tall bicycles just as seen in the music video.