Gone are the days when Marvel Studios could move with confidence and self-confidence. And if there is a particularly urgent issue that is currently keeping company executives awake at night, it is Jonathan Majorssigned to be Kang and forge the common thread of the Multiverse Saga in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Over the course of a decade, the House of Ideas was consolidating itself as a nest of box office triumphs and the cornerstone of a new business model in the world of entertainment. However, although he still scored a couple of hits in the years after Avengers: Endgame (2019), the waters have continued to be turbulent for the ship captained by Kevin Feige.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, Marvel has little by little been losing its position as king of the hill, with a noticeable drop in the quality of its productions. In that sense, the presentation of his new antagonistic pillar has left much to be desired on screen, while the actor who plays him faces criminal charges that make his permanence in the franchise increasingly less likely.
Majors was arrested in March 2023 on domestic violence charges against someone who would later be identified as an ex-girlfriend of his and a member of the production team of Quantumania. Weeks later, multiple women raised their voices to report that they had also been attacked by the Californian actor and eventually the case proceeded. It is a fact that Majors will go to trial to defend her presumed innocence. And as far as Marvel is concerned, is it really in their best interest to continue waiting for him? Or will it not be more time to make decisions?
A new villain?
In September 2023, Marvel Studios’ annual retreat in Palm Springs served to highlight the main concern of creatives and executives: the legal situation of Jonathan Majors and how it affects his future in upcoming MCU projects. Although the current plan is for Kang to be the new great villain of the franchise – the “heir” of Thanos -, in that meeting the possibility of ruling him out as the final boss and bet on a different one. For example, Dr. Doom.
A studio source told Variety that, regardless of Majors’ arrest, the House of Ideas had already considered releasing Kang. The reason was the poor box office performance of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the bad review it deserved. Although, the closing of the trilogy Ant-Man It was not Majors’ debut in the MCU — that was the “He Who Remains” variant in Loki—, this was the first time we were supposed to see it in all its splendor. So the unfavorable numbers of Quantumania — 46% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and only $476 million at the global box office — do not help sell Kang’s image as an attractive adversary.
Doom, for his part, is an antagonist that the public is more familiar with and that many fans would love to see in the announced film. Avengers: Secret Wars, scheduled for 2027 and which we assume will be based on the comics of the same name in which Victor Von Doom has a primary role. And before that Secret Warswe will have The fantastic fourwhere this villain could also appear and from there make his way to becoming the maximum threat of Phase 6, instead of Kang.
The drawback of Loki
After to Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaKang’s next appearance (a variant named Victor Timely) happened in the second season of Loki, of which a new episode continues to be released every week. And in the words of Varietythe end of said season will end up “establishing him as the titular star of the fifth Avengers movie,” which is scheduled to hit theaters on May 1, 2026 under the title of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
So, Loki It now poses another obstacle for Marvel to be able to get rid of Kang if they want to. Ultimately, the series will position him as the definitive enemy of the Avengers in the Multiverse Saga. Hence, perhaps the most prudent maneuver would have been to restructure the second season in order to downplay the importance of Jonathan Majors’ character. But according to a negotiator familiar with the matter, there really was “no opportunity for a rewrite” because of the Writers Guild of America strike in Hollywood, which began five weeks after the scandal surrounding the actor broke. And any modification in those five weeks, in the eyes of producer Kevin Wright, could be classified as “hasty.”
Now, due to the impossibility of making reshootsthe House of Ideas could then have delayed the release of the new episodes of Loki until the panorama is clearer. However, it is understandable that he chose not to postpone the return of the beloved God of Lies, partly due to the pressure of feeding the Disney Plus catalog, but also due to the need to vindicate himself before his audience. And what better than with a series that previously proved to be successful.
The option of a recast
Regardless of what the cliffhanger of Loki: Season 2anyone could argue that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty It is not a film that necessarily has to happen. Months ago it was even rumored that screenwriter Jeff Loveness—the same one from Quantumania— would not continue to be part of the project. However, Marvel has insisted so much on Kang that it seems inevitable that they will incorporate him into another future film or show, at least to give closure to the character, whether or not it is in an Avengers installment. And in any case, this would require a recastin case Jonathan Majors by then finds himself behind bars or banned for life.
And who could replace him? In April 2023, the insider Jeff Sneider revealed that within Marvel Studios the possibility of using an actor with “the type of profile” of Damson Idris (snowfall). Then, in the middle of this year, Collider put the name of the Oscar nominee on the table Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the black messiah) as a worthy contender for the role of Kang the Conqueror.
It would not be the first time that the House of Ideas calls for replacements for its original actors. Within the MCU, the most significant recasts have been for the roles of James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (Don Cheadle, instead of Terrence Howard); Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo, replacing Edward Norton) and soon Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (Harrison Ford, replacing the late William Hurt). But of course Majors’ replacement would be an unusual substitution, since there had never been criminal charges involved before.
Accused of domestic violence, the thirty-something actor will appear before New York courts on November 29, 2023.
Antonio G. Spindola I have very bad memory. Out of solidarity with my memories, I choose to get lost too. Preferably, in a movie theater.