After the rousing success of the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios faced a tall task when deciding who should be the main villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next saga. Kevin Feige and Co. seemed to hit the jackpot when they cast Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror. At the time he joined Marvel, Majors was a rising star, making him an ideal actor to build a new Avengers movie around. However, Marvel pivoted away from the Kang storyline when Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment, bringing back Robert Downey Jr. to play Doctor Doom instead. Though the MCU moved on from Majors a couple of years ago, rumors persist he will return.
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Speaking with The U.S. Sun, Majors addressed the possibility of a Marvel comeback. “I cannot say anything about that,” he said. “Well, it’s a multiverse, so there’s always that. Always a lot of opportunity for that.” The outlet noted that Majors “grinned ear-to-ear” when discussing the MCU.
Could Jonathan Majors Return in Avengers: Doomsday?
At first glance, the odds of Majors returning to the MCU seem low. Not only would the studio probably like to distance itself from any controversy surrounding the actor, the Kang storyline was falling flat even before Majors’ verdict. While Majors impressed as Kang variants He Who Remains and Victor Timely on Loki, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was positioned as Kang the Conqueror’s big coming out party. Rather than establishing Kang as a dangerous threat, the film earned a mixed reception and underwhelmed at the box office. One of the goals of Avengers: Doomsday is to get the MCU back on track by revitalizing fan interest; reviving a defunct character arc people weren’t responding to would be counterintuitive to that.
That said, Kang was such a prominent figure in the early days of the Multiverse Saga that it would arguably be jarring if the character was just completely abandoned going into Doomsday. He was being set up as the successor to Thanos, and if Doomsday doesn’t address the character’s fate in some way, it could be a lingering question that hangs over the film. It would perhaps make sense to bring some closure to the Kang storyline early in Doomsday. One possibility would be to have Doom kill the Kang variants that were present at the Council of Kangs, which would be a demonstration of the new villain’s immense power.
No actor has been cast in Doomsday to play Kang, at least not yet. After Marvel unveiled the massive Doomsday ensemble earlier this year in a record-breaking livestream event, Kevin Feige confirmed that additional casting announcements would happen at a later date. Fans are still waiting for that to happen, so it’s theoretically possible Majors or another actor has boarded the project to have a small part as Kang. Given the Majors controversy, recasting seems like a likelier option, but actors may not be open to taking over the role. Oscar nominee Colman Domingo confirmed he had talks with Marvel about Kang, but said it “didn’t feel right” to replace someone as the character. Other actors could have a similar sentiment, especially if Kang’s part in Doomsday amounts to getting killed by Doctor Doom.
Rumor has it that fans will get their first look at Avengers: Doomsday later this year when Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters. While much of that teaser trailer should be focused on introducing Doctor Doom, it might be smart to address Kang in some capacity in the preview, communicating to casual audiences why there is a different overarching villain in the MCU. Perhaps Doom killing Kang could be one of the first scenes glimpsed in the trailer, serving as a visual representation of Marvel moving on from one antagonist to the next.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
