Through no fault of its own, Marvel Studios has been placed in a sticky – and borderline unwinnable situation – after making the decision that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would canonically confirm that every single variant of Kang the Conqueror bears at least some resemblance to Jonathan Majors.
As Loki and Spider-Man: No Way Home had already shown, different iterations of the same character from alternate realities don’t have to be played by the same actor, but at the time it was taken as a huge show of confidence in the fast-rising star and his abilities to bring countless different performances to the table as the Multiverse Saga’s end-of-level boss.
Of course, we’ve now reached the point where Marvel refuses to even acknowledge Majors’ existence in either the marketing materials or Disney Plus synopsis of Quantumania, which underlines just how tricky a position the company is in. If the role is recast, then Quantumania effectively means nothing in the long run when the next Kang will bring their own flair to the part.
If Majors is proven innocent of all charges and allowed to continue, there’s going to be backlash regardless when his reputation and standing in the industry has taken such a significant hit. It’s bizarre to see Marvel pretending like he doesn’t exist when he’s literally the primary antagonist of the movie, but that’s about the only viable course of action for the time being.
It was a bold swing to have Majors established across the board, but it’s beginning to look like a serious miss.