Marvel Is Running out of Time to Make a Decision on Jonathan Majors

Jonathan Majors‘ 2023 was off to a big start thanks to key roles in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III. The actor was on magazine covers everywhere and lauded as one of the few parts of the otherwise fizzled Ant-Man threequel that was definitively good — a great sign for Marvel, Disney, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe since they were hanging most of their future on the actor.

And then in March, he was arrested for an alleged assault. The incident involved Majors and a woman, who is said to be his girlfriend, who was taken to the hospital with visible injuries — including a laceration behind her ear and marks on her face — from an altercation that took place in a cab.

Following his arrest, other assault allegations are said to be piling up against the actor ahead of his standing May 8 court date. According to reports, a number of other alleged victims are cooperating with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, though the details of those allegations are still unknown.

In the past few weeks, Majors was dropped by his management company, PR firm, and the Met Gala — and that was just the beginning. Since then, the list of brands, projects, and nonprofits that have cut ties with Majors has grown to include a film adaptation of the novel The Man in My Basement, campaigns with the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers, and the board of the Gotham Film and Media Institute.

However, in the midst of all these allegations and announcements, the actor’s most notable partnership remains silent: Jonathan Majors is still attached to play Kang the Conqueror, and his thousands of alternate reality doppelgängers, in a slate of Marvel Studios movies and TV shows extending to 2026. Speculation is mounting around what Marvel will do with the role, and the company has a very narrow timeline within which to make a statement — not even a definitive decision, but just a statement of any kind.

Time for a statement most likely runs out on April 27, which is when the cast and crew of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — presumably along with many other members of the Marvel family — will walk the red carpet for the upcoming Marvel movie’s premiere. Considering how fast news is breaking about the case against Majors, it’s not farfetched to imagine this news dominating every red carpet interview with everyone from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige all the way down to other actors, writers, directors, etc. After all, Majors’ role is essentially the new Loki or Thanos. He’s not merely a villain for Ant-Man and the Wasp to fight. He’s the bad guy whose presence will unite an entire slate of movies and shows. We actually don’t know how many projects he’s slated to appear in, but the answer is definitely not zero and reporters would be justified to ask about Kang’s part in any Marvel project — even without all of the current headlines.

Making matters even more complicated for Marvel is the fact that a lot seems to be riding on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s success. The film follows the critical and commercial disappointment of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the sudden and shocking firing of Marvel Studios VFX president Victoria Alonso, numerous reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil in VFX departments, and whispers that Marvel Studios is ramping up to slow down the number of shows and movies they’re releasing every year. This is the most precarious time in Marvel Studios’ lifespan, and remaining silent as their new franchise-level star faces mounting accusations of abuse is objectively not good; morally or otherwise.

So, what is Marvel to do? One may not need to look further than Marvel’s main rival for a possible trajectory forward: Warner Bros. and DC. Ezra Miller, star of the long-delayed Flash feature film, has made headlines on numerous occasions for arrests, reports and rumors about everything from them choke-slamming a fan to hoarding guns, maybe running a cult, and possibly kidnapping a child. Unlike Majors, whose allegations are disputed by his lawyer or currently in a file in the D.A.’s office, many of Miller’s abusive acts were caught on camera. Still, Warner Bros. stuck by Miller instead of scrapping a $200 million budget movie, with the actor releasing a statement apologizing for their actions. It’s also worth noting that now that The Flash’s publicity tour is revving up, Warner Bros. seems to be focusing way more on Michael Keaton’s return to playing Batman than Miller as the Flash.

This is something Marvel could do with Majors — whether or not that’s the wise move, your mileage may vary. But Marvel could release a statement, maybe even a joint one with Majors, saying that they’ve had very serious talks and Majors is going to own up to his actions, seek help, donate to XYZ, etc. This might even work better for Marvel than Warner Bros. since Kang is a villain, meaning Marvel Studios can trot out any number of A-list Avengers to do press for upcoming shows and movies. That’s even true for the movie that bears his character’s name, 2025’s Avengers: Kang Dynasty. Yes, Kang’s name is in the title, but Majors’ role can be downplayed behind an Avengers lineup that includes, spitballing, Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larson, Tom Holland, Tatiana Maslany, Benedict Cumberbatch, etc. That’s not going to make the allegations disappear, and it’s still very much TBD if Warner Bros.’s strategy regarding Miller is actually going to work (The Flash hits theaters in June). When allegations are this serious — or potentially this serious, in Majors’ case — a lot of fans are justifiably not going to be eager to see an [alleged] abuser on screen.

Then there is the other option: Marvel just cuts ties with Majors cleanly and completely. The truth is, bluntly, that any allegation of domestic violence cannot be ignored and it has to be taken seriously. One allegation is enough to merit cutting ties and moving on (look at how Adult Swim, Hulu and more handled the Justin Roiland accusations). But now there are reports of multiple allegations. There is a lot of smoke here, so something is on fire. Cutting ties with Majors isn’t impossible, either. Majors’ next appearance as Kang will be in Loki Season 2, a part of which was used as a post-credits scene for Quantumania. Loki, as part of Marvel Studios’ subtle stretching out of their content, has shifted from being due to drop this summer to being on the schedule for… whenever. 2023? Sure, maybe. With no premiere date announced, this means that Marvel could recast the role and retool the season in time for a late 2023 or early 2024 release. The technology exists, too. Just drop the new actor into The Volume, the 360° LED soundstage used on The Mandalorian, and let them interact with the footage of Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson.

Recasting isn’t as controversial an option as it sounds, either. Marvel has recast actors on many occasions, including major characters like War Machine (Don Cheadle took over from Terrence Howard) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton). It’s happening again in the upcoming Captain America: New World Order, where Harrison Ford is taking over the General Ross role from the late William Hurt. This isn’t unheard of and it can be done with zero explanation. And if there needs to be an explanation, Loki — the very show that introduced Majors into the MCU — provided one: we know that variants of people across timelines, realities, and dimensions can look drastically different from each other. Sometimes Loki is a woman, an alligator, or Richard E. Grant. Sometimes Spider-Man looks like Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland, and they spend a whole movie not remarking upon how none of them look at all alike. It’s fine.

What’s not fine, though, is Marvel dragging its feet when it comes to commenting on the very public crisis of an actor that they built three phases of their franchise around. Time is running out for them to make a decision. And unlike Kang, Marvel can’t travel back and fix their mistake. They need to move forward, and soon.