James Gunn just snipped away another thread protecting Jonathan Majors’ future as MCU’s Kang

At this point, Avengers: Kang Dynasty is almost two years away. So, with Loki season two still having no official release date — apart from the mid-2023 debut window — the only thing that would be confirming that Marvel Studios is not planning to part ways with Jonathan Majors in the wake of the assault allegations against him is if Kang cameos in the upcoming MCU films. But James Gunn has doused cold, future-chilling, water on the possibility. 

It is common sense that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won’t be setting up Kang the Conqueror’s escapades as it is expected to wrap up the stories of the intergalactic superheroes — at least the ones that won’t be returning – and be Gunn’s MCU swan song. In fact, the Guardians will be too busy battling supervillains of their own to give attention to the time-traveling baddie.

But nothing is stopping a post-credits scene from dropping a glimpse of the mighty villain and his many scheming variants who are ready to wage war on the Avengers. Remember Age of Ultron’s post-credit scene where Thanos was seen nabbing the Infinity Gauntlet? He had no connection whatsoever to Ultron and his actions in the film, yet the post-credits scene still indulged in teasing the Titan’s brewing plans to annihilate half the universe. But apparently, this particular course of action is not in Gunn’s book as he recently answered a fan’s queries on Instagram about Kang’s presence in GotG 3. 

“Vol 3 is about ending the story of these Guardians, not about setting up anything else. I don’t even know what’s going on with the other Marvel movies.”

Well, there you go. The studio is armed with the creatively flexible boundaries of a fictional universe and is known for recasting major actors without thinking twice. While Kang’s absence in GotG 3 isn’t exactly a major letdown, teasing what the various variants of Kang have been up to since their lackluster debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would have been the vote of confidence Majors’ currently doubtful presence in the MCU sorely needs.