In 2008, Marvel Studios released the first film in what would be called the Marvel Cinematic Universe — Iron Man. Just one year later, Marvel Studios became a part of the Walt Disney family. Since then, 32 more movies have been released, generating nearly $30 billion. Despite its recent struggles, with The Marvels having the lowest box office opening in MCU history, there are still a lot of exciting things coming down the pike.
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Unfortunately, Loki star Jonathan Majors just threw a huge wrench into those plans.
On December 18, Majors was found guilty of third-degree assault and harassment in the third-degree against his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari. He was also found not guilty of intentional assault in the third degree and not guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
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Just about an hour after the guilty verdict came back, it was announced that Marvel was parting ways with the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star. The problem is that Majors was set to be the next major villain in the MCU — Kang the Conqueror. Now Marvel has to change up its plans and figure out where they want the story to go and who the villain will be.
While Marvel sources are mum, there is indication that the studio has already been doing just that [focusing on a new villain]. In November, Marvel hired Loki creator Michael Waldron to work on a new draft of what was once called Kang Dynasty, but is now being referred to as Avengers 5, according to sources.
While Mr. Majors might be seeing his career come to a sudden halt, he is not taking the conviction lying down. Moments after the verdict was rendered, his lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, indicated that the actor is considering appealing the ruling.
“It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari’s story of what happened in the SUV because they found that Mr. Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her. We are grateful for that. We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him.”
“Mr. Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends, and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months. Mr. Majors still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.”
Majors was first arrested back in March after police responded to calls of a “domestic dispute” between the Creed III actor and Ms. Jabbari. He was booked on charges of assault, harassment, and strangulation. He attempted to get the case dismissed, and the charges dropped, but was unsuccessful. Majors is scheduled to be sentenced on February 6.
Mr. Majors was also set to star in the Disney-owned Searchlight film, Magazine Dreams. That film was shelved not long after Mr Majors’ arrest. It was supposed to come out on December 8, but no new release date has been announced.
While Marvel may be referring to its upcoming film as Avengers 5 instead of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, that doesn’t mean that Kang is gone. Now that the Multiverse is open, Disney could recast Majors and explain that the new actor is merely a Kang from a different part of the Multiverse.
Would you like to see Kang remain a part of the MCU? Or should Marvel find a new villain?
