Marvel Studios
After being found guilty of third-degree assault and harassment by a New York City jury, Marvel Studios has officially parted away with Jonathan Majors.
Majors’ firing is a massive move for Marvel Studios as his character, Kang the Conqueror, was positioned at being the “big bad” for the upcoming phase of movies after being properly introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania earlier this year.
Kang was set to be such a featured part of the next few years of Marvel Cinematic Universe films that the next Avengers movie was set to be subtitled “The Kang Dynasty”. The plan was also for Majors to play every variant of the character that appeared across the franchise, as evidenced by his recent role of Victor Timely in season two of Loki.
Marvel has two courses it could take now. It could recast the part, although it is not clear how many actors would be attracted to a role from which one actor was so publicly fired. The other course is to redevelop its plans and refocus on a brand new villain. While Marvel sources are mum, there is indication that the studio has already been doing just that. [via The Hollywood Reporter]
However, despite the firing of Majors, reports indicate that Marvel Studios plans to move forward with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is currently scheduled to release in movie theaters in 2026. Internally, however, the film is now being referred to as Avengers 5.
Earlier this year, director Daniel Destin Cretton — who helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — walked away from the project while Loki writer Michael Waldron, who was already tasked with penning Avengers: Secret Wars, replaced Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania scribe Jeff Loveness as the writer of Kang Dynasty.
At this time, the next Marvel Cinematic Universe to release in theaters will be Deadpool 3, which is currently dated for July 26, 2024. The film is the only MCU project slated to release in 2024, perhaps giving the franchise the time it needs to reset.
If Marvel Studios did pivot to a new “big bad” villain, some popular choices would likely be Doctor Doom, Magneto, Mephisto, and Galactus.