Jonathan Majors was officially fired from his MCU role as Kang by Marvel Studios earlier today after being found guilty of two of the charges filed against him by ex-girlfriend Grace Jabarri.
The jury found the Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star guilty of two misdemeanour counts of harassment and assault, as well as not guilty on two additional charges of intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree.
The trades announced that Marvel/Disney had severed ties with Majors almost immediately after the news that he'd been found guilty broke, which would obviously seem to suggest that they were waiting for the verdict before making their decision. However, in his latest newsletter, Jeff Sneider indicates that the studio was never going to move forward with Majors as Kang regardless of the outcome of the trial.
As for the next Avengers movie, it's believed that The Kang Dynasty subtitle has been dropped (no surprise there), and the project is being referred to internally as "Avengers 5" for the time being. To what extent the current story will be altered remains to be seen, but Marvel revamping it as "Secret Wars Part 1" is sounding more and more likely.
According to one of Sneider's sources, "Secret Wars is basically shaping up to be a giant five-hour movie with a year-long intermission.”
Insider Daniel Richtman has also weighed in, and he claims that filming was actually set to commence as soon as next March in the UK - but he has heard that, had Majors been found not guilty, he would have stayed on as the Conqueror.
As we know, Loki writer Michael Waldron was hired to pen a new draft, but the conclusion of Loki season 2 was still going to inform the main plotline.
Richtman has also heard that, despite rumors to the contrary, Doctor Doom was never being positioned to replace Kang as the new big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and would have (and may still be) a secondary villain of the next Avengers films.
Will Marvel Studios find a new actor to play Kang, or will they pivot away from the character completely? It's entirely possible that a decision has yet to be made, but we should find out more before the end of the year.
Which outcome would you prefer? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section down below.