Marvel Studios still finds itself dealing with a major (no pun intended) predicament. Last month, Jonathan Majors was found guilty on one count of intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree by a New York jury, and his time as Kang the Conqueror ended shortly thereafter.
On the one hand, the problem can be solved with a simple recast. The issue is, as great as Majors was in Loki, the Conqueror's defeat in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has seen many fans write Kang off as a serious threat, an issue when he's meant to be the Multiverse Saga's big bad.
Some believe Loki season 2 offered Marvel Studios an out, but the series was shot before Majors' legal issues and the ending explicitly mentioned that a Kang Variant had been dealt with in the Quantum Realm, confirming the villain's Variants are still out there.
There's been chatter about Doctor Doom replacing Kang and, with all those Variants in one place, it would be easy enough for a new baddie to wipe them out in one go!
Despite that, we're hearing Marvel Studios remains committed to Kang being this Saga's lead antagonist, even if he's now likely being put on the back burner before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars roll around.
Fear The Walking Dead star Colman Domingo was recently rumoured to take over as Kang, but scooper Daniel Richtman is today claiming that Tenet star John David Washington is also a possible contender. We don't have any additional details beyond that and a final decision isn't expected to be made until later this year.
Marvel Studios can make it so that the next Kang is a new Variant but, honestly, it will be much easier to treat this like when Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and nobody mentioned it!
The son of Denzel Washington, John David Washington has stolen the show in movies like BlacKkKlansman, Tenet, and Malcolm & Marie. He also impressed in Gareth Edwards' sci-fi blockbuster The Creator last year.
Playing Kang would go a long way in establishing the actor as a force in the popcorn entertainment realm and, based on the aforementioned projects, he'd no doubt bring added depth and his own unique approach to the time-travelling maniac.
Do you think Washington would be a good pick to play the MCU's new Kang?