This article briefly references legal proceedings around assault. Readers who may find this subject triggering should proceed carefully.
Summary
Despite theMCU’smeteoric rise, the last few years have seen the incredible production studio encounter several setbacks, including a major change in direction when it comes to the fifth Avengers movie, formerly titledAvengers: The Kang Dynasty. Having started in 2008, the MCU has been a modern miracle in cinema with more than 30 films in a single shared universe, with connected and often sequential stories. And no where is this incredible feat more impressively on display than the event films that bring the heroes together, theAvengersmovies.
However, after Thanos was defeated and the Infinity Saga concluded, the new direction of the Multiverse Saga has had some ups and downs. Despite finding the new big bad for the MCU’s second saga, complications have led to the film, which was first announced back in 2022 at SDCC, having now gone into a total overhaul. Whatever happens,Avengers 5will be a different story to what was originally promisedwhen Jonathan Majors was set to star as Kang in the title role.
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Avengers 5 Is Reportedly Changing Direction From Kang
New Directors, New Writers, New Movie
Along with the announcement that theRusso brothers are in talks to potentially directAvengers 5and6, the change in direction for the fifth entry was also confirmed.The Kang Dynastywas initially set to be the climactic moment for Majors' Kang arc, but due to the circumstances,Disney and Majors have parted ways. This means that at the halfway point of the Multiverse Saga, several films deep into Phase 5, Marvel needs to change course and settle on a new direction forAvengers 5.
Despite previously having director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer Jeff Loveness initially confirmed to write and direct respectively,Marvel is now looking elsewhere to take the movie in a new direction. With a new team behind the project, it is clear that the film will look very different to what was promised. But, the MCU has provided numerous threads throughout the nearly 20 years that it has been in operation, so it is possible to adjust the focus, without losing much momentum.
Jonathan Majors' MCU Firing Explained
Disney And Majors Were Incompatible
Despite Jonathan Majors' rise in Hollywood echoing the rapid growth of the MCU in its early days, the actor has taken steps away from the limelight sinceallegations about the actor were made public in March 2023. For the rest of 2023, legal proceedings occurred around Majors' case, alongside the release ofLokiseason 2, which featured Majors prominently as aKang variant, Victor Timely. However, in December 2023, Majors was found guilty of a misdemeanor assault in the third degree, while he was found not guilty on two other counts of assault.
Following the verdict,Majors was officially dropped from Marvel, and his future in the MCU came to a swift end. Of course, Marvel being a branch of Disney, and Majors' actions and subsequent charges did not align. Fortunately for the MCU, Kang was not shaping up to be the Thanos level threat that they may have hoped for.
Seriously, Marvel, Why Are We All Ignoring The Best Answer To All Of Avengers 5’s Problems?!
There are many problems surrounding Avengers 5, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe could deal with them using a solution from the Infinity Saga.
Kang’s Rocky MCU Start Explained
Kang’s Bark Was Worse Than His Bite
Kang is a character whose presence was heavily felt throughout Phase 4 of the Multiverse Saga. With the character’s introduction inLoki, where a variant calledHe Who Remains was introduced and swiftly killed, the idea of this villain with several variants threatening the peace of the Multiverse was established. However, the first variant was no major threat, as they willingly embraced death, and appeared to be fighting to hold back the other Kang variants throughout the Multiverse.
Kang was next seen inAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and once again, despite being built up as a grandiose villain who could destroy all of reality, but again, he is quickly disposed of by Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne. In both appearances, the characters presented a menacing threat, but they were quickly eliminated. The post-credits scene inQuantumaniadid present many other faces of thevillain at the Council of Kangs, but even there, thevillain felt like a self-inflated rival rather than a terrifying threat.
How Loki Already Sets Up An Easy Out For Marvel On Kang
Kang’s Story Has Already Ended In Loki
The most prominent role for Majors was inLokiseason 2, however, when he played Victor Timely, another variant of Kang. Timely was a mild-mannered and soft-spoken scientist from the 1860s. With a genuine love for science, Timely was a brilliant inventor, but he wasn’t a monster. Over the course ofLokiseason 2, thetruth about Timely’s numerous variants is unveiled, but this appears to push Timely to a path of being good, rather than becoming a villain.
In fact, the relationship between Timely and the TVA’s O.B. was one of the most endearing parts of the show. Timely was willing to sacrifice himself to help Loki and the TVA repair the timeline, and with Loki’s careful guidance, he did just that hundreds of times. AsLokiseason 2 came to it’s end, theproblem of the Kang variants across all time and space was handed over to the TVA, who were now under new management, and aware of the role Kang played in their inception and organization. This means that the MCU could literally leave Kang’s story there, with no further developments.
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Who Could Replace Kang?
Fortunately, even with the MCU opting to move in a different direction away from Kang, there is a vast array of other villains for the Avengers to fight. At the beginning of Phase 4, the Celestials were introduced inEternals. With a monumental Celestial statue sitting in the Earth’s ocean, therest of the Celestials could returnto face off with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Also, early in Phase 4,WandaVisionappeared to drop several hints to a character well known for his power and villainy in the comics, Mephisto.
The MCU has provided numerous threads throughout the nearly 20 years that it has been in operation, so it is possible to adjust the focus, without losing much momentum.
With almost 100 years worth of comic history, thousands of characters, and now hundreds of hours of film and TV, Marvel has laid the foundation for countless stories to be told. There are also major villains who are closely associated with upcomingfilms, likeThe Fantastic Four,who would create an equal or greater threat to the heroes of the MCU. Dr. Doom and Galactus are just two of the many potential replacements for the big villain inAvengers: The Kang Dynasty, now Marvel just needs to take its pick and move forward.
