It’s already been established that the concept of a variant within the Marvel Cinematic Universe is flexible, with John Krasinski’s Reed Richards and Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie standing out as two of the most prominent examples, but the franchise may have painted itself into a corner after Jonathan Majors was confirmed to be playing every version of Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The stinger made it clear that the Council of Kangs all have the same appearance, and while there’s nothing wrong with the notion in theory, things have taken a severe sideways turn following the allegations of assault made against the actor. Marvel Studios evidently went all-in on Majors, but now that he’s being dropped from new projects and ad campaigns while the Disney-owned comic book company maintains radio silence on the matter, it’s beginning to look like a gamble that’s backfiring spectacularly.
If the worst case scenario unfolds for Majors and he ends up facing criminal charges based on the accusations, then Marvel will be left with no other option than to terminate his contract. Should that happen, then the entire complexion of Phases Five and Six changes in an instant, especially when writer Jeff Loveness has confirmed that a lot of his writing for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is being inspired and driven by the titular villain’s performance, or performances in this case.
It’s probably cheaper to tie one actor down to a long deal than it is to hire several established or recognizable names to play the various Kangs, but the Quantumania big bad’s career implosion has put Kevin Feige and the rest of the higher-ups between a rock and a multiversal hard place.
