The seeds are being planted to shift focus from Kang as the character’s actor, Jonathan Majors, casts a shadow over the future of the MCU.
For the first three phases, the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed to be bulletproof. Even when a string was thrown into the machine, and Marvel Studios had to recast it to replace him with someone like Edward Norton or a director like Edgar Wright, Kevin Feige’s final scene would hold the train from eliminating. The studio bubble is currently expanding to the point that many feel it will burst from the tension. One of the biggest hurdles going forward is how the studio plans to handle actor Jonathan Majors in his role as Kang the Conqueror. Majors’ ongoing controversy and ongoing lawsuit, which either convicts or acquits the actor of domestic abuse allegations, casts an unexpected shadow over the era’s future multifaceted.
Many have been waiting to see what Marvel will decide to do with Kang’s character or Majors in the role. Some believe that they can reshape because the character can lend itself to different forms. It has also been theorized that the new supervillain Thanos may transition to another popular character like Dr. Doom. ComicBook.com has now reported that the writer at Avengers: Kang Dynasty, Jeff Loveness, is now attached to the project as Marvel now focuses on moving away from Kang. Joanna Robinson, who is a Vanity Fair reporter and MCU: Reign of Marvel Studios co-author, recently appeared on the House of R podcast where she revealed that the studio has dropped the Quantummania writer and may see a shift in focus.
This is coming off heels Lokithe second season of Disney +, which saw Kang’s turn, He Who Remains, again produced by Majors. As the Majors were controversial before this season, many wondered if the statement would be changed in any way. The show’s executive producer, Kevin Wright, wants the show to go ahead as planned despite the ongoing lawsuit, “The story on screen is the one we wanted to do, surprisingly. No one was coming down to tell us that we had to make a connection or organize anything for the future. It was a bit like, ‘Finish our story we started.’ As far as it all goes, I can’t say. Not because I’m stupid, [but because] we are not part of these projects.”
Wright continued that it is something he hopes to explore by building an incremental scenario of Kang’s threat. He refers to the writer Michael Waldron, who wrote Doctor Strange: A Multiverse of Madness and Loki season one and he writes Avengers: Secret Wars, (Minor spoilers for Loki season two) “I know Michael Waldron is working on them, and he really loves this world [of Loki], as he helped create it. The risk we establish at the end of the [the Loki finale] it is: there will be a war of many. Sylvie says, ‘Let’s have a chance.’ So I hope people keep running with that, because I’d love to see who that story is.”
