After having been found guilty in 2 out of 4 charges by a six-person jury, Jonatham Majors has been fired by Disney/Marvel Studios. Majors was found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and guilty of harassment. He was found not guilty of intentional assault in the third degree and not guilty of aggravated harassment in second degree.

  • MajorHavoc@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Good for them. Life is too short to enable abusers.

    Time to recast and move on. Kang is a comic book space wizard. We can suspend our disbelief that much further. Maybe choose a much older actor and let the age difference be part of the explanation.

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      11 months ago

      Kang is already a multidimensional being. Loki established that multidimensional beings can look like pretty much anything (even alligators). Recasting Kang is the easiest thing to do in cannon. “Turns out, those Kangs aren’t the most common it’s actually the new Kang”

        • NeryK@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          They just have to George Lucas that mid-credits scene with all the Kangs. It was pretty dumb anyway with all of them screaming hysterically. Now they have good cause to redo it 😏

          • CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world
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            11 months ago

            Just replay that scene and pull back out of a screen in the TVA, where Mobius looks disturbed. O.B. says, “That many of one person in one place isn’t good for anybody! They’re up to no good, I can tell just by looking at them.”

            B-15, her jaw set firm, pushes a big red button that says PRUNE, and says, “Good riddance.”

            The entire arena dissolves, and a moment later Alioth consumes it all in one great gulp.

            Mobius sighs, and says, “Nobody tell Victor about this.”

        • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          This is a situation where they could retroactively change the post credit scene and nobody would really give a shit. It would be hilarious if there was outrage over changing an easter egg scene in a movie nobody even liked.

            • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              I was pretty lukewarm on it and I’ve liked most of marvel’s stuff, particularly the ones generally disliked (Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, The Marvels, Eternals, and Dr. Strange MoM). Even as a huge fan of the first two, I couldn’t find much to enjoy from Quantumania. Paul Rudd was, of course, great. I thought the setting was fun. I even didn’t dislike MODOK. Plot and dialogue weren’t up to snuff though.

              But yes I was giving broad strokes, and even with Marvels’ box office failure, I think Quantumania is regarded as the worst in the franchise.

      • AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I agree it has to be the easiest character ever to swap out an actor on.

        It turns out, that all of those Kang’s don’t happen… Because Loki. Anyway here’s a bunch more Kangs because time is infinite and this is fiction not science.

        Have him make some cheeky remark like, “were you expecting somebody else?” And I legitimately do not care who they cast as long as he has charisma and can be convincing as a cold hearted monster that is eleventy-seven times smarter than just about anyone around him except for Dr Doom.

    • Bluefold@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      I’ve said it a few times, but I feel like they could have Dr. Doom come in to kill Kang pretty easily. It’d set up a new big bad, introduce the Fox Verse, and even set him up as the leader of any potential Battleworld in the future.

      Kang even before the allegations hasn’t been received all that well. A soft-reset with Doom might make people excited again. Imo all mystique of the character was already ruined in the Multiverse of Madness post-credits. A FoxVerse Vs MCU battle movie would touch on Endgame levels of hype.

      • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        He who Remains was fantastic, so fun to watch. Kang in Ant-Man was shit but so was all of that movie.

        He was well received but he’s a cunt so bye.

      • BeardedSingleMalt@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        One thing I didn’t like too well about the whole Kang thing is He Who Remains said that he discovered multiversal travel in the 32nd century and that resulted in the war. This made it seem like traveling the Multiverse was a near impossibility until he mastered it in the far future.

        Then as Phase 4 continued, and turns out it’s something kinda easy which became the plot for a few movies.

        • deft@ttrpg.network
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          11 months ago

          I think you have to view it as one timeline.

          The timeline reached the 32nd century where the tech was found. Causing a basically soft reset for the timeline where going back in time technically happens after the 32nd century discovery. If the timeline could be drawn that would be where it goes cattywampus

        • AEsheron@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Literally everything that happened up until that point has been him tinkering with the timeline. Its possible in his native timeline none of that happened before he was born.

        • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          Yeah quantumania killed all hype for kane for me. How can they expect him to be a multiversal threat but he gets beat by ants!? That film needed to be a bit of a bad ending. Everyone gets out so good there. But kang did not lose the fight, they just escaped. That is how it should’ve went down to big him up further.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Couple things;

            1: Kang was trapped in the quantum realm with nothing. The thing that makes Kang personally dangerous is his technology. This was his “built an iron man suit in a cave” movie.

            2: the ants had created a type-2 civilization and, were they hostile to earth, would literally be an avengers level threat on their own.

            It took 3 Ant-People, a futuristic army of cyborg ants that can build Dyson spheres, the betrayal of a war machine Kang built, and no small amount of luck (and capitalization on Kang’s arrogance) to win.

            I don’t much care if you like the movie - we all have our own preferences - but he was definitely not just a throwaway villain in it. I’m a big Kang fan and they definitely did Kang justice, even if people didn’t like the movie itself.

            Plus his whole purpose in the overarching story was to lead into the eventual collapse of timelines, also mentioned in Multiverse of Madness, which is why Kang does what he does.

    • Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      There is president for recasting in the MCU already, they swapped out Hulk and War Wachine without even a line of dialogue to address it.

    • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Isn’t the whole threat of Kang the fact that there’s an infinite number of him? Like, explaining the recasting Kang in the store seems like the easiest job ever.

      • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The problem is that Quantumania post-credits. >!It’s a lot harder to explain a recasting as multiverse shenanigans when they showed so many copies of him that all looked the same.!<

        • formergijoe@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I mean, Bruce Banner isn’t Edward Norton anymore, and Rhodey isn’t Terrance Howard anymore. Those didnt even need multiversal hand waving to explain away. People just accepted it.

          • guacupado@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            I was about to post this. You don’t need some huge, complex reason to change actors. It’s already been done and no one batted an eye.

            • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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              11 months ago

              I mean, if you ask me Don Cheadle has never brought the same magnetic energy that Terrance Howard did but oh well.

        • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, but still. If there are variants where he’s different colors there are variants where he’s physically different in other ways too, kinda like Loki and Sylvie. Also, if I remember correctly there was a variant in that scene who looked like an alien or something.

        • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, but still. If there are variants where he’s different colors there are variants where he’s physically different in other ways too, kinda like Loki and Sylvie. Also, if I remember correctly there was a variant in that scene who looked like an alien or something.

        • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, but still. If there are variants where he’s different colors there are variants where he’s physically different in other ways too, kinda like Loki and Sylvie. Also, if I remember correctly there was a variant in that scene who looked like an alien or something.

        • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, but still. If there are variants where he’s different colors there are variants where he’s physically different in other ways too, kinda like Loki and Sylvie. Also, if I remember correctly there was a variant in that scene who looked like an alien or something.

        • BmeBenji@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, but still. If there are variants where he’s different colors there are variants where he’s physically different in other ways too, kinda like Loki and Sylvie. Also, if I remember correctly there was a variant in that scene who looked like an alien or something.

    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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      11 months ago

      It still gets messy between needing to promote the first few appearances and the inevitable “snark” among the influencers.

      Unless they are willing to edit antman and whatever (it is Disney, they likely can contractually do that), they are still promoting majors every time they encourage people to watch the whole saga. Again, Disney, so I assume royalties aren’t a concern, but it still makes the product look bad.

      If the movies until now were better received, I could see them trying to salvage it. As it stands? This is an easy out and they can justify all the many missteps and chalk it up to something out of their control. Which may also be an opportunity to further split the overall arcs and reduce the stakes a bit while they build up new characters.

    • Fondots@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Mostly joking, but I wouldn’t exactly be mad if they brought Terrence Howard in as the new Kang to really hang a lampshade on it.

    • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org
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      11 months ago

      The nice thing about Kang being a character with infinite variants who can come from infinite different timelines is that he doesn’t have to look one way or another particularly. If there’s a blue guy with ominous vibes and time travel powers we can fill in the blanks.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Whoever decided all Kangs should be played by Johnny Boi here is obviously a genius using the true potential of the setting. I never liked that decision.

  • Ech@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    It’s gonna be a pain for the studio, but I’m glad they made the right call quickly here, instead of trying to just ignore it away like DC and Ezra Miller.

    • stackPeek@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I don’t know how DC and WB got away with that. It hurts their reputation in long term.

    • pewter@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They really had to. They quickly fired Gunn after media reported on old, edgy jokes. You have to fire someone after a guilty assault verdict if that’s your threshold.

    • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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      11 months ago

      Didn’t he piss off Disney after the new Star Wars trilogy? I seem to remember him making some comments that pissed some execs off.

        • Conyak@lemmy.tf
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          11 months ago

          I’ll take your word for it. I’m not very familiar with the situation.

          • Andrenikous@lemm.ee
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            11 months ago

            To summarize the trilogy was a shit show with no real direction and they squandered Finn a legit interesting character that could have been a key character. The fact they made him at all capable in his fight against Kylo deeply implied he would be a Jedi and then they just pissed his storyline away.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              11 months ago

              The fact they made him at all capable in his fight against Kylo

              He gets easily defeated by Kylo Ren.

              I am with you on the overall wasting of potential there (he should have been Rey’s first “apprentice” by the third movie), but at no point was he holding his own against Ren.

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  I mean he’s a trained soldier, but he gets stomped by Kylo pretty convincingly, and Ren has JUST been shot with a bowcaster. Looking at this from a comic-book style “feats” discussion, he wouldn’t be considered holding his own against Ren

    • GeorgeTheFourth@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I have been thinking this since I first heard about it. Give the role to someone who got the short end of the stick but has the passion.

    • blueson@feddit.nu
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      11 months ago

      I’d prefer it John gets a shot at a good franchise. Or just a big standalone blockbuster.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      As much as people like to defend Depp, he’s a piece of shit who deserves to lose his status. He has great pr that has made everyone around here ignore his mountains of past abusive behavior and being a creep.

      Dude is 60, dating 20 year olds and bitching that they’re immature. Him and his ex were mutually abusive psychos, she just happened to be worse, but Johnny Depp is a garbage person

    • Microw@lemm.eeOP
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      11 months ago

      It’s easier for Disney to fire a problematic star who is past his prime and doesnt pull audiences anymore than to fire a problematic star who is considered up and coming, and supposed to frontline a big franchise

    • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Depp’s a trash human being, too. Don’t let that verdict trick you into thinking he’s a victim. That whole affair was between two awful people.

    • Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      Yeah…I definitely believe in the principle of being innocent until proven guilty, and that should apply in all facets of life. I know legally that only restrains the courts and government, but in my opinion, it should apply for everyone - no one should be fired or otherwise treated as though they’re guilty before it has been proven.

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    11 months ago

    Imagine throwing away this opportunity because you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself. Goodbye, fucking idiot.

    Marvel should recast with a Lady Kang, full send into the “timeline variant” option.

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    11 months ago

    They should just pull a switcheroo and show that Oroborous was actually Kang all along and that Majors was just a pawn or perhaps a rival he was disguising himself from.

    • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      While this is a fun idea, I really don’t see him as a legit villain. The actor is just so goddamn charming.

      • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I thought he was a fine villain because I can’t stand Jonathan Majors. Every moment of screen time with him in Loki S2 is just brutal

        • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Oh, no, I was talking about Ke Huy Kwan as Oroborous. I did actually like Majors as He Who Remains, less so as Victor Timely.

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            11 months ago

            Victor Timely was terrible, surpassed only by the terrible kang variants at the end of Quantumania. Majors just doesn’t have the acting capabilities to carry multiple versions of a single character in any believable way.

  • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
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    11 months ago

    Thankfully Loki 2 put them in a good position to just nip the kang storyline in the bud. At least for now. Maybe wait a good decade or two then potentially bring back the threat of Kang with a new actor (or more).

    • Astrealix@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Personally hope they just recast and say fuck him tbh. Not many villains are on Kang’s level, and we’ve already seen from covid what happens when Marvel has to respond to a massive shift in plans.

      • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        I’m hoping though, that loki 2 were signs of them having got a plan B though. At least if those scenes towards the end were reshoots. If they were in the original script, then it’s just a lucky coincidence it looks that way.

        Hopefully with a potential recast they can get away with the abysmal portrayal in ant man and have this new version not linked to that one at all.

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I was never familiar with him in the comics, but the MCU has so far made him seem ineffective and weak. I’d rather they just end it and move on to the next big bad

        • CitizenKong@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Yeah, they made a bad job out of showing that he’s basically evil Tony Stark with 30the century tech.

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      11 months ago

      That’s true. The TVA is killing all the Kangs so maybe only the variants that don’t look like Timely/HWR survive.

      Or just say, no the TVA handled all the Kangs, here is Dr Doom.

      I wonder if Mayors had something in his contract that only he can play Kang, as some people suspect from not already recasting him.

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        11 months ago

        He can be removed based on the “morality clause” they put in these contracts. Basically “if you make us look bad, you’re gone”. All entertainers have them because they’re public figures.

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I wish Madds Mikkelsen hadn’t been in dr. Strange so he could play dr. Doom.

        Let’s get Lars Mikkelsen to play him instead

        • BoastfulDaedra@lemmynsfw.com
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          11 months ago

          I heard Mads was actually talking with them about that role, too. But then, I heard that about a few people, and they won’t tell us until the last second in any case.

        • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          Mads would’ve been a perfect doom. I hate when they get such good actors just to get rid of them. I know Kaecilius (or however you spell it) isn’t actually dead, but they’re also not doing anything with him either.

  • kandoh@reddthat.com
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    11 months ago

    Those texts were classic abuser manipulation. He also sounds arrogant and unhinged calling himself a great man in them.

    He threatened to kill himself to the woman he was abusing the manipulate her. I wonder if he has the balls to follow through now that it’s over for him.

  • scripthook@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Maybe now Avengers 4 will just have Thanos return from the multiverse “Somehow Thanos returned…”

    • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Probably just recast Kang. The multiverse thing allows for that pretty easily, and each Kang we’ve seen hasn’t survived their show or movie. The question is if they can get someone as memorable as Majors.

  • Fades@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Such a shame. I thought he was doing such a great job as Kang. Fuck anyone that lays hands on their loved ones