No Kang Do: Marvel Studios Drops Jonathan Majors - Now What?
Jonathan Majors has been at the center of the news cycle for some time now for alarming reasons. Multiple allegations of abuse, his public relations team cutting ties with him, and news of him being dropped from various projects have taken him from a Hollywood rising star to someone who's virtually untouchable. On December 18, the Marvel actor was found guilty of harassment and assault in the third degree.
Now, Disney has announced that Majors will no longer star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (per THR). No other background details are available at the time of this writing. Initially, outlets noted that Marvel Studios will still be moving forward with the upcoming "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" film, the first "Avengers" movie post-"Avengers: Endgame." In November 2023, Marvel veteran writer Michael Waldron (the multiversal creative behind two seasons of "Loki" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness") came aboard the film as head writer — suggesting a rethinking of the film's plot (and inevitable recast) has been in the works for some time.
However, THR reported that the film has changed its title from "The Kang Dynasty" to "Avengers 5" — whether this is a working title amidst script revisions or a clue to a Majors shift away to a new villain, remains to be seen. Still, there's no director attached to this film so anything can happen. But can there be a Kang Dynasty without Majors?
No, Kang can't just disappear from the MCU already
Let's recap his role here in the MCU so far: Majors made his debut as a Kang variant, known as He Who Remains, on the Disney+ series "Loki." He returned to the MCU in"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," portraying a more vicious version of Kang that rules the Quantum Realm. In the "Ant-Man" film's storyline, he plays several other Kang variants, such as Rama-Tut and Immortus. Naturally, many have already begun to ask the big question, where does Marvel Studios go from here with the Kang character?
Throughout the MCU's Phase Four and Phase Five, fans have gotten well-acquainted with the multiverse. Various forms of Kang have been depicted as masters of the multiverse, capable of traversing it, bending it to their will, and working together to take out anyone against them. This is why he and his variants have been positioned as the Thanos-level (Josh Brolin) threats of the Multiverse Saga, which encompasses Phases Four, Five, and Six.
Though the folks at Marvel Studios likely could find a way to write Kang out of the franchise in favor of another overarching villain, it wouldn't be the right move. Fans know about the Jonathan Majors situation and remember how hard Kang was publicly pushed as the MCU's next big bad. All of that information would loom large over an abruptly Kang-free MCU, likely to the detriment of the franchise. Since the character is so essential to the MCU's immediate future, there's only one viable way forward: recast Kang.
It's time for a Kang recast
On paper, recasting Kang might seem like a bad idea. He's an antagonist who has shown his face multiple times in the MCU, so how could Marvel Studios bring the character back with a new actor? Well, in terms of the current multiversal story, it makes sense for Kang variants to have different faces. For instance, just look at "Spider-Man: No Way Home," where Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield played different versions of Peter Parker. Some different Kangs even appear in the "Quantumania" brief post-credits scene.
Yes, variants can have differing faces in the MCU (see: Sylvie in "Loki"), but there's behind-the-scenes precedent too. Since the earliest days of the MCU, actors have been swapped out in favor of new ones. Some of the most notable examples include Don Cheadle taking over for Terrence Howard as James "War Machine" Rhodes, Mark Ruffalo becoming Hulk following Edward Norton's departure, and Kathryn Newton replacing Emma Fuhrmann as Cassie Lang. Even Thanos went from Damion Poitier to Josh Brolin, proving there's no role too big to recast in the MCU.
There are so many ways Marvel Studios could handle the future of Kang the Conqueror in the MCU. Given how meticulous Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is with everything else, though, it stands to reason he and his team already have a multiversal plan in the works.