It looks like Jonathan Majors’ career may be over, perhaps for good.
Majors had been cast as Kang the Conqueror, a character who was being set up as a significant villain in upcoming Marvel movies, possibly rivaling Thanos. He had already kind of, sort of played the character in Loki series and another version of the character in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. And all indications were that he was going to be a major presence in the Marvel movies for years to come. And that was on top of a number of roles he had gotten in other movies, most prominently being in Creed III and Devotion.
And then he was arrested for alleged domestic violence on March 25, which, allegedly, hospitalized his girlfriend. His representatives claimed innocence and even produced alleged text messages that, honestly, don’t really help him very much if they are genuine:
Jonathan Majors lawyer drops alleged text messages to TMZ from the accuser to clear him. pic.twitter.com/xDmbAbzMJO
— Baller Alert 🚨 (@balleralert) March 30, 2023
We would remind you, dear reader, the concept of ‘pressing charges’ is a Hollywood myth. Movies and TV shows constantly talk about whether a victim is ‘pressing charges,’ as though it is up to the victim to decide whether to go forward with charges. In America, criminal cases are about the government going after a person. The government is the other party in a criminal case, not the alleged victim. The alleged victim technically has no say in the matter, though his or her input will probably be considered.
Aside from all of that, however, another shoe just dropped for Majors:
Multiple alleged abuse victims of Jonathan Majors have come forward following his arrest and are cooperating with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
(Source: https://t.co/URgeN3lyfe) pic.twitter.com/rPmXZ6jnyr
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 19, 2023
The linked article really doesn’t say more than that in terms of what these other victims had to say, except for this tidbit:
One of Jonathan Majors’ victims allegedly worked on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
If Marvel hasn't had discussions about recasting him, they may as well now. pic.twitter.com/pdxHFHlvAG
— Hernandy – The Dynasty Sin Amor (COMMISSIONS OPEN) (@Pollos_Hernandy) April 19, 2023
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And so suddenly many, many people began to drop him:
Jonathan Majors has been dropped from a number of projects as well as his management & publicity team. These projects include:
– An adaption of ‘The Man in my Basement’
– An ad campaign for the Texas Rangers MLB team
– A Fifth Estate Otis Redding biopic(Source: Deadline) pic.twitter.com/48L2fRJq3f
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 18, 2023
Jonathan Majors has reportedly been dropped by his talent manager and PR firm following his arrest on domestic violence charges, and new reports suggest even more alleged abuse victims have come forward. https://t.co/udCcc330rM pic.twitter.com/UkxtRop1Ej
— IGN (@IGN) April 20, 2023
And Comic Book Resources reports that Marvel may have set up a contingency plan to replace him.
A new rumor suggests Marvel Studios may be prepared to recast Kang the Conqueror following Jonathan Majors' arrest and the allegations surrounding the actor.https://t.co/dSs5Yz0GSv pic.twitter.com/okcG79y6Lt
— Comic Book Resources (@CBR) April 15, 2023
Meanwhile, Midnight’s Edge has a cogent argument that Marvel has already decided to replace him and they are just waiting to announce it:
#JonathanMajors is losing gigs left and right, but officially, he is still #Kang for #Marvel. "Officially" being the operating word here …https://t.co/sTtXEl875i pic.twitter.com/8QWaIBQBFi
— The Official ME (@Midnights_Edge) April 20, 2023
We think a great deal of what they say in the video is credible but we’re not sure they are right on everything. We particularly notice that their grand unified theory as to why some stars get let go immediately and others don’t (they chalk it up to loyalty) doesn’t quite line up with history. Still, their views are worth considering.
Of course, there were reactions:
What happened to innocent until proven guilty? If he’s guilty I’m all for recasting. There are times to be proactive and I don’t think this is one of them just yet.
— She Calls Me Daddy (@tweet_bds28) April 15, 2023
Didn’t recast this guy though…🤔 pic.twitter.com/zttA15H3Ih
— Black Jesus 🧀 (@23BlackJesus23) April 15, 2023
Ezra Miller after seeing Jonathan Majors will not have a job for abusing a women while he still has his job despite doing much worse things https://t.co/gCxnjZi5Mk pic.twitter.com/uMYuIeVRuV
— 🅿️ainSzn (@cjsweet567) April 18, 2023
Hold up, so they’ll keep James Gunn who made some revolting pedophilic jokes, but they’ll get rid of Jonathan majors over something that hasn’t been proven true. Crazy.
— Tsumori (@Bigpapajohhn) April 17, 2023
People have to stop treating g allegations as facts, have we learned nothing from Johnny depp
— Kareem🇵🇸 (@RollbackReem) April 17, 2023
Didn't see ant man 3 yet but loved majors in creed. Tremendous actor. But those text messages came off like he abuses her. We all know disney only cares about money and is risk averse (star wars rehash trilogy, Aladdin, lion king, etc) they ain't taking any chances of boycotts.
— Eddie Jones (@Eddiejo11489440) April 17, 2023
😂😂😂—I’m laughin b/c I wanna know who’s tryin to destroy Jonathan Majors career all of a sudden https://t.co/d2dZt5hZZ6
— Tweeters-Take-It-Easy (@Had_2_ask) April 20, 2023
I’ll stand by my previous opinions: innocent until proven guilty. As of right now, this is an innocent man, and his love should never be destroyed because of accusations. If found guilty, have at him.
— FamilyGamerDad (@peteywarren0829) April 20, 2023
nothing but absolute RESPECT for all the victims that are brave enough to come forward knowing the scrutiny and danger that comes with speaking out against powerful men like him, specially when you still have people today trying to defend him like nothing happened. https://t.co/hjpY7Wj0ie
— rhaenyra targaryen's lawyer (@Targ_Nation) April 19, 2023
Before people start saying “why they didn’t come out before”, look at how many of you treated the first victim when the news came out. https://t.co/VrTxPyt77U
— Your Fav Disabled Hottie❤️🔥 (@nilanmorton) April 19, 2023
Oof. What's happened in the past with Marilyn and Johnny, I'm very skeptical now. I really want to see evidence because this is turning into a 💩 show. https://t.co/QUYpWc2ZAR
— Lily* ليليانا (@300mirrors) April 19, 2023
theyre not gonna say/do anything until after Loki S2 (i.e. DC with Ezra post-Flash release)
— Peak in Boots (@FandomMenaceLs2) April 19, 2023
If marvel recasts him, people are going to fall out of favor with marvel. People are fatigued of cancel culture
— Homeis👨🎨OvrHoez (@touchedthenet) April 19, 2023
Feige and marvel gotta do a better job vetting these guys. It also makes you wonder how much they knew beforehand and were probably gonna brush it all under the rug until he got arrested and now everyone knows about his abuse.
— Eddie Jones (@Eddiejo11489440) April 19, 2023
It’s a point that has been on our minds: will studios start to require a psychological assessment of actors and actresses before they are cast in their franchises? We shall see.
There can only be one replacement pic.twitter.com/5iTpwv6qqm
— König (@OfficialDibiase) April 17, 2023
That’s a pretty funny reference to the fact that Terrence Howard played Rhodey in the original Iron Man, only to be replaced by Don Cheadle in the rest of the movies where he appeared. And indeed, in Majors’ case, it wouldn’t even be very difficult to explain the change—assuming they bother to explain it at all.
If you have seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: No Way Home, or even Everything Everywhere All at Once, then you are familiar with the concept of the multiverse, the idea there are multiple universes which often contain different versions of the same character—and they don’t have to look very similar at all. So, Marvel can simply cast a different actor to play Kang and explain that this version of Kang just happens to look different because that’s how he looks in the universe he is from.
Yahya Abdul Mateen-II would be a perfect choice for a recast pic.twitter.com/b5UjSqcLRx
— XpertFusion (AKA MovieFusion) (@xpertfusion3) April 15, 2023
Wouldn't be hard, there's an infinite amount of Kang's
— Drake (@DrakeDB7) April 15, 2023
As we were just saying!
Less humorously, some of those reactions included some accusations of racism:
This only happens to black actors/creatives and it’s sad that more people don’t care about this issue.
— daeVr (@polocharlie_) April 16, 2023
It amazes me how Charlie Sheen, Shia LeBouf.. Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt.. & Other White Men Alike .. Continue To Have Illustrious Careers & J.M Is Suffering Based Of Allegations. .. https://t.co/qXI7zITB9C
— Black Star Tech (@ohthatsb__) April 20, 2023
Still, there are many differences including how long the individual actor was in the industry, how large of a draw he or she is at the box office, how difficult it would be to recast, the severity of the accusation, or even which studio is involved. It’s hard in that situation to say it definitely would have worked out differently if Majors was white.
In any case, the story is sad, whether he is guilty or not. If he is guilty, it’s a story of a talented actor being brought down by whatever drove him to commit these acts, which is tragic for that reason—and one can feel that way without advocating for a lighter punishment (assuming he is guilty). If he is innocent, then it is the story of a man brought down by false allegations, which is inherently sympathetic.
But to lighten things up, let’s examine one person’s very questionable idea for recasting:
Recast? pic.twitter.com/2gBiAwBTNb
— AshleySchaefer (@Cudagras) April 20, 2023
(Stifling laughter.) We’re going to go out on a limb and guess that would be a little too controversial for Marvel.
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