Jonathan Majors’ Performance in ‘Loki’ Allegedly Led Marvel to “Alter Their Entire Plans”
Marvel Studios’ Alleged Change in Plans for Phase 6 Reportedly Stemmed from Jonathan Majors‘ Performance in ‘Loki‘
According to an insider within the company, Marvel Studios may have undergone a surprising shift in policy that could have disrupted their initial intentions for Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The catalyst for this change was purportedly Jonathan Majors’ portrayal of He Who Remains in the season one finale of ‘Loki’.
Majors’ return as Kang the Conqueror in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘ was met with widespread acclaim, despite the mixed reception of the film itself. In the post-credits scene, it was hinted that Kang and his various variants would take center stage in the future of the MCU, with even the next Avengers installment, titled ‘The Kang Dynasty’, revolving around the character.
However, these plans were abruptly derailed when Majors faced legal trouble, having been arrested and charged with assault as part of an ongoing investigation. As a result, the previously envisioned Phase 6 centered around Majors now finds itself in uncertain waters. Marvel Studios maintains that no concrete decisions will be made until the legal process has progressed further.
What Prompted Marvel’s Reliance on Jonathan Majors?
During an episode of The Ringer’s The Big Picture podcast, Joanna Robinson, a prominent writer and author of the forthcoming book ‘MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios’, shared insights she gathered during her work. According to Robinson, the original intention was never to make Kang the linchpin of the MCU. However, Majors’ performance reportedly changed the minds of those involved in the creative process. Robinson, who holds a senior writer position at Vanity Fair and has a history of providing exclusive Marvel coverage for the magazine, elaborated on how Majors’ portrayal brought about a significant shift in their approach—before encountering an unexpected setback.
“I was told by someone who works for Marvel, it was not the plan to make Kang the center of everything until they saw the dailies from ‘Quantumania’ and after his performance in ‘Loki,’ which was so strong they were like, ‘This is it. This is our way forward. We’ve lost our varsity hero team, but let’s set up around this guy Kang and this performer that so many people are reacting to.’
We know this is a huge problem for them that they are facing and grappling with right now. And what’s unprecedented in this for Marvel is, I would argue they have never hung so much of a franchise on one actor, as they tried to hang it on Jonathan Majors after his ‘Loki’’performance and his ‘Ant-Man: Quantumania’ performance.
“I would argue more than Downey as Iron Man, more than Brolin as Thanos, that hanging everything on this guy is then going to pop up in all of their properties leading up to something called ‘The Kang Dynasty’ has put them in a very unusual position. They don’t usually hang this much on one person in the way that they did here. And that has put them in the bind. We do not know what they are going to do. I’ve hear conflicting stories about they are going to replace him, they’re not even considering replacing him etc etc. But it’s just one more thing.”
Majors has denied all charges levelled against him to date, but the latest trailer for the second season of Loki didn’t include him – despite the sting at the end of Quantumania focusing on the character. Loki Season 2 is scheduled for release in October.
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