Marvel Studios is parting ways with actor Jonathan Majors after he was found guilty of reckless assault and harassment by a six-person jury in his domestic abuse trial in New York City.
Majors portrayed the megavillain He Who Remains, also known as Kang the Conqueror in the fourth through sixth phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Majors played the role for the first time in Loki season one in 2021. He returned to the role for the second season of the show this year as well as the $476 million blockbuster Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February. During Phases 5 and 6 of the MCU, He Who Remains was supposed to be a major villain. The character will have his own film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. The director of that film, Shang Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton, recently left because of his demanding schedule with other Marvel productions.
It has yet to be determined how the studio will proceed going forward. In all likelihood, they will recast the role. It wouldn’t be the first time Marvel has recast an actor. Most notably, Marvel replaced Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo in the role of Bruce Banner. Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle in the role of James Rhodey after the first Iron Man. Also, in the first two Ant-Man movies, Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie was played by Abby Ryder Fortson, though Emma Fuhrmann took over the role after the time jump in Avengers: Endgame. However, she was replaced by Kathryn Newton Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Rumors of his replacement has been circulating for a while, but Marvel was likely waiting for the outcome of the trial before making their decision. Soon after his March arrest, Majors was fired by his manager 360 Entertainment and publicist The Lede Company.