Jonathan Majors’s Kang is easily one of the most exciting new characters of the Multiverse Saga, as he happens to be the big villain of the current story. The Avengers will fight Kang in Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, but it might not necessarily be Majors that plays the villain.
Majors is one of Hollywood’s rising stars and a tremendous addition to the MCU. But the actor has just been involved in a personal scandal that involved domestic abuse allegations. The matter is yet to clear, and reports said that Marvel met the actor’s representatives after his arrest. It’s unclear, though, whether Marvel will recast Kang in the near future.
An insider claims that Marvel hasn’t decided and that Kang is in the Loki season 2 trailer, which should drop soon. Mind you, some spoilers might follow.
Jonathan Majors’s Kang is the big villain of the Multiverse Saga
Marvel confirmed the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania digital release date a few days ago, which had already leaked. What’s interesting is that Marvel used the following promo animation when announcing the digital release:
As you can see, it focuses on Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly). There’s no trace of Kang. Since this is an Ant-Man and the Wasp story, you’d expect the titular characters to appear in this sort of announcement. If anything, the animation favors Scott Lang.
But let’s remember that Kang was the main marketing tool for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Marvel kept teasing the villain and making big revelations about the character before the movie hit theaters. Not having Kang in this Quantumania digital release animation is surprising.
It might be a coincidence. It might not have anything to do with Majors’ recent troubles. But it could indicate that Marvel is taking precautions. The studio could always recast the role and march forward with the story.
The Army pulled an ad campaign featuring Majors after the actor’s arrest.
On the same note, YouTuber Grace Randolph said on Twitter that the Loki season 2 trailer should be available in the next few weeks. The trailer also features Kang, which is a central character of that story. That’s where Grace Randolph mentioned that no decision had been made yet about Jonathan Majors’ future at Marvel.
What if Marvel recasts Kang?
What seems certain at this point is that Marvel has no choice but to go forward with Kang being the villain of the Multiverse Saga. Everything points to a big Avengers vs. Kang confrontation in Secret Wars. And Secret Wars is the kind of Endgame-like blockbuster that should bring in a few billion dollars at the box office.
But, as Marvel has shown over the years, it can recast roles if it has to. And it will also fire top talent following scandals. James Gunn is an example of the latter kind of action, although Marvel rehired the writer/director for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
As for recasts, Harrison Ford is the latest example. The high-profile actor replaced the late William Hurt to play Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross. That’s another key character for the current saga.
Similarly, Marvel replaced Terrence Howard as War-Machine, with Don Cheadle taking over. Mark Ruffalo became the new Hulk after Edward Norton exited the MCU.
On the other hand, Marvel didn’t outright recast Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa for Wakanda Forever. But it went for a soft recast that will take years to complete.
That’s to say that Jonathan Majors’ future as Kang is certain, no matter how impressive the actor’s performance as Kang might be. We’ll have to wait a while longer to see whether Marvel announces anything on the matter.
Should Marvel go that way, we already have an explanation for why the new Kang would look different. And it comes from the first Loki season, where we saw all sorts of different-looking Lokis.
