Well, this didn't take long. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed with Disney and Marvel Studios that Jonathan Majors has been fired and will no longer play the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Kang the Conqueror.
We don't have a statement - yet - but the news is official and Majors' time in the MCU has ended after he was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and guilty of harassment by a New York jury earlier today.
The plan had been for the Multiverse Saga to revolve around Kang and his many Variants. We first met He Who Remains in Loki season 1 before Majors played Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania; in a post-credits scene, the actor portrayed Immortus, Rama-Tut, and Scarlet Centurion along with thousands of other Kangs.
Loki season 2 had already been shot when Majors was arrested on March 25 and we saw him play both Victor Timely and He Who Remains in the Disney+ series when it was released in October.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is still dated for May 1, 2026 and, according to the trade, Marvel Studios still plans to move forward with the project after recently tapping Michael Waldron to pen the screenplay (that news broke shortly after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton walked away from the movie). A title change may well be inevitable.
Marvel Studios now has the option to recast the role or move on from Kang altogether. Neither of those would be overly difficult; major characters have been swapped out in the past, with Mark Ruffalo replacing Edward Norton as The Hulk and Don Cheadle taking over from Terrence Howard as War Machine. Alternatively, another villain could destroy the Council of Kangs off-screen, with Doctor Doom still a likely candiate based on recent rumours.
Interestingly, the trade adds, "While Marvel sources are mum...In November, Marvel hired Loki creator Michael Waldron to work on a new draft of what was to have been Kang Dynasty, but is now being referred to as Avengers 5, according to sources."
Majors' star had been on the rise before his legal issues. He received widespread acclaim for his work in Creed III and was earning Oscar buzz for his role in Magazine Dreams. Searchlight has removed it from the calendar and it may never see the light of day.
A statement has also been released by Majors' attorney, Priya Chaudhry, regarding the decision made by the jury.
"It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari’s story of what happened in the SUV because they found that Mr. Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her. We are grateful for that. We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him.
Mr. Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends, and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months. Mr. Majors still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name."
Stay tuned for more as we have it.