Actor Jonathan Majors, known for his roles in Creed IIIHBOs Lovecraft countryand Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is being removed from projects following his arrest in March on assault charges. Majors will appear before the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan on May 8.
Majors was arrested on March 26 on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment. Shortly after Majors’ arrest, his lawyer released a statement claiming that the actor was innocent and that Majors was actually the “victim of an altercation with a woman he knows. ”
Majors’ crisis publicist (who is also the husband of his lawyer) has been released text messages from the alleged victim hoping they would clear up Majors’ involvement. That defense seemed to backfire; the lyrics, some said, read as if they were written by an abuse victim.
After these details came to light, several productions and agencies dropped Majors. Majors’ publicists, Lede Company and Management 360, reportedly broke up with the actor, though talent agency WME is still representing him at the time of publication. Majors also stepped down from the boards of the Gotham Film and Media Institute and the Sidney Poitier Initiative. And he’s been cut from a number of ad campaigns, as well as the upcoming movie The man in my basement. An untitled biopic about Otis Redding that Majors was reportedly considering has also parted ways with the actor.
According to a Variety report, “several of Majors’ alleged abuse victims have come forward after his arrest in March and are cooperating with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office” in the case against Majors. Among these alleged victims is someone who apparently worked on Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniain which Majors played Kang, the film’s main villain.
Marvel remains in business with Majors, as of publication time, with production ahead Avengers: The Kang Dynasty reportedly early next spring. The actor is closely associated with the current lineup of Marvel Cinematic Universe films; he appeared in the first season of Loki as a character called He Who Remains, and was set up to be a Thanos-sized threat in the future.
At the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaMajors appeared in even more roles, with thousands of time-traveling Kangs and Kang variants appearing in post-credits scenes. Kang is an integral villain in the MCU’s current storyline, which culminates in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty And Avengers: Secret Warswhere Majors’ villain will likely help reset the MCU for a brighter future.
The potential of recasting the role poses a challenge to Marvel: Loki season 2, in which Majors are expected to play a fairly prominent role, is already in the pipeline. The news could even affect Disney’s VOD slate as the company looks for the right time to release Quantumania on Disney Plus amid Majors’ legal troubles.
As Hollywood reacts to the news erupting around Majors, the actor’s reps are still trying to refute it with new statements.
“Jonathan Majors is innocent and has not molested anyone,” his lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, wrote in an April 19 email to the press. “We have provided irrefutable evidence to the prosecutor that the charges are false. We are confident that he will be fully acquitted.”