Apart form minor hiccups like falling box office returns and a growing apathy surrounding the entire shared universe enterprise, the biggest problem facing the MCU right now is the mystery of what to do with Jonathan Majors.
With the actor’s legal troubles threatening to drag on and on, there may soon come a time when Marvel is forced to recast him as Kang the Conqueror, thereby changing the whole shape of the Multiverse Saga. Unfortunately, the franchise has backed itself into a corner somewhat by establishing that every single Kang in the multiverse looks like Majors (see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s post-credits scene).
Clearly, then, there are only two options open for Marvel without breaking continuity: go younger or go older. That way the new actor could simply be playing Majors’ Kang, just at a different age, hence why they look different. A younger Kang is a great idea for the Young Avengers, but an older Kang would probably be the way to go for the central saga. Especially if they had a mature actor to bring the requisite gravitas.
Luckily, the perfect suggestion has fallen into Marvel’s lap. In a piece from Forbes, that follows up on Variety‘s recent claims that the studio’s in big trouble, the notion of Denzel Washington as an “older and wiser” Kang, perhaps the most dangerous of them all, was pitched. And it turns out it’s one that it seems the entire MCU fandom can get behind, going by the excited discussions on the MarvelStudios subreddit.
A superlative actor in the role and a “super reasonable” explanation for the recast? Win win.
Unfortunately, some can’t see Washington Snr. being interested in the role.
Although maybe Marvel can find a clever way of getting him to sign up…
Hey, failing Kang, there’s always Blue Marvel!
The excitement for Harrison Ford taking over as General Ross in Captain America: Brave New World, following William Hurt’s passing, proves that landing a Hollywood legend distracts audiences from the downsides of recasting, so clearly that is the way to go with Kang as well. The one and only Denzel would certainly kill it as the greatest threat to the multiverse, although whether he’s the Kang we deserve but not the one we’ll get right now remains to be seen.
