Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror was supposed to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next main villain after Thanos. Marvel Studios was already setting up his story after appearing in Peyton Reed’s 2023 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Disney+’s Loki. However, the studio decided to fire the actor after he was found guilty of two domestic violence charges in December 2023. A few months after his firing, a new villain was announced, and Avengers 5 was retitled from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday. With this news, Majors admits he’s heartbroken over Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom replacing Kang in the next Avengers movies, Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
TMZ caught up with Majors in West Hollywood and asked about his reaction to Marvel Studios’ recent announcement that Downey would be the new villain in its two upcoming Avengers films. There, he expressed his heartbreak over the news and his love for his character as Marvel decided to take a different approach.
“[I'm] Heartbroken, of course,” he said. I love Kang. Doctor Doom is wicked, though.”
Majors was then asked if he felt like Marvel’s decision to let him go was unfair given that Downey himself had his own legal troubles back in the 1990s, being arrested for possession of heroin, cocaine, and an unloaded gun and given three years of probation. As Downey was arrested for a felony and Major only had a misdemeanor, the former was given a chance to make a major comeback.
“I think it’s fair that Mr. Downey is being and has been greeted with patience and curiosity and love … and [he’s] being allowed to work [his] art and be creative at that level,” Majors explained. “I didn’t really get that.”
Despite what happened, Majors still expressed his interest in returning to the MCU and reprising his role as Kang. However, he knows it will only happen if fans and Marvel want to.
“Hell yeah! Hell yeah! I love him. I love Kang,” he continued. “If that’s what the fans want, and that’s what Marvel wants, then let’s roll. Hell yeah.”
Will Jonathan Majors return to the MCU?
After being convicted in December 2023 of two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault, Marvel Studios fired Majors the same day he was found guilty. The actor was accused of his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, of assaulting her in the backseat of a private car, suffering an injury to her right middle finger and a cut behind her ear following an altercation.
After the firing, the studio remained silent about the 34-year-old star's future in the franchise and didn’t say a word about its plans for his character. However, a big reveal was made at the recent San Diego Comic-Con 2024 when Marvel announced that Downey would play Doctor Doom in Doomsday and Secret Wars, a major shift from its initial plan to make Kang the main villain of the Multiverse Saga.
Major was last seen as Kang in Loki Season 2, which aired from October to November 2023 on Disney+. That season ended with the threat of Kang seemingly being extinguished after Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sacrificed himself to save his friends and watch over the multiverse, making his new cosmic role as the God of Stories. As the show didn’t feature any tease that Kang remained a big threat, it seemed to be Marvel’s way of writing the character out of the MCU.
By the looks of it, there’s no way for Majors to return to the MCU at the moment. However, as Downey redeemed himself after Marvel gave him a chance to play Iron Man in 2008 despite the executives being apprehensive about casting him back then, only time can tell if Majors will experience the same thing.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.
