Kang
Marvel
This article was published on 12/10 and republished on 12/11.
While Jonathan Majors lost all manner of roles and agents and ad campaigns in the wake of accusations of domestic violence that now have him facing charges, Disney has continued to stick by him, presumably because he is the lynchpin of the entire current phase of the MCU, playing multiple variants of Kang, the universe’s current big bad.
Things have now reached a point where it should be impossible for Disney continue working with Majors in the wake of what’s continually coming out about his behavior. This Friday, in his domestic violence case, text messages, previously inadmissible, but now read to the jury in the case, reveal Majors appears to be advising his girlfriend, accuser Grace Jabbari, not to go to the hospital after he gave her a head injury, even if she lied about what happened.
“I fear you have no perspective of what could happen if you go to the hospital,” Majors texted Jabbari in September 2022. “They will ask you questions, and as I don’t think you actually protect us, it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie, and they suspect something.”
And then Jabbari, who could not get through reading her full message without crying, and a prosecutor had to take over:
“I will tell the doctor I bumped my head if I go. I’m going to give it one more day, but I can’t sleep and I need some stronger pain killers. That’s all: why would I tell them what really happened when it’s clear I want to be with you?”
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 4: Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good are seen arriving at court on December 4, … [+] 2023 in New York, New York. (Photo by MEGA/GC Images)
GC Images
This is now evidence, on the record, and regardless of the trial’s outcome, it’s impossible to understand why Disney would continue to stand by Majors at this point instead of cutting him loose from the MCU, where, incidentally, this all happened during or after Majors had already been filming as Kang for Loki and Quantumania, which began in 2021. And this is not the only woman who has come forward alleging this kind of behavior from Majors. Are they what, going to sit around and wait to see if actual prison time prevents him from filming?
While separate from all this, Major’s performance as Kang has been praised, it doesn’t matter. He has to go. And even die-hard Marvel fans agree that it would be extremely easy to replace him given that the entire point of his character is that he has many different forms across a number of universes. We literally just saw three different actors playing Spider-Man as a part of No Way Home’s multiverse story. Anyone could replace Majors as Kang and it would make total in-universe sense. Though even if it didn’t, still replace him! He should not be anywhere near the MCU at this point.
There’s also the option of just cutting the Kang storyline entirely. Loki season 2 could theoretically be used as the endpoint for the Kang story, and few upcoming projects feel like they need Kang, up until the announced Avengers: Kang Dynasty which again, at this point, could be changed to something else if the entire character is thrown out.
But the end result is the same. Majors needs to go. He needed to go a while ago, and this new evidence read into record has to spur Disney to action at this point.
Update (12/10): I will weigh into some of the debate here that has arisen in the wake of this article, given that it’s a topic that has come up in Hollywood many times before, and even within large-scale Disney projects themselves.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 03: Jonathan Majors, and his girlfriend, Meagan Good, flanked by his … [+] lawyer Priya Chaudhry (R), arrive to Manhattan Criminal court for his pre trial hearing on August 03, 2023 in New York City. If convicted, Majors could face up to a year in jail over misdemeanor charges of assault and harassment. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The pushback here is that this is a criminal trial and people are innocent until proven guilty. But this is conflating the literal, legal justice system with the actions of a private company and who they want just not attached to their brand, but serving as a lynchpin to a universe worth billions.
With Majors, Disney would not be doing anything other projects he was attached to, or even his own agency, has not done already, as he has been dropped by everyone else. And they would not be doing something they have not done already. The case of Gina Carano has come up recently during this debate, the ex-MMA fighter and actress who had a popular turn on The Mandalorian and was even looking at her own spin-off.
But then she compared being persecuted for conservative political beliefs to Jews being persecuted by Nazis in the holocaust. And she made public comments that were perceived as anti-transgender. This fell into the old “freedom of speech” debate, where again, this is frequently misunderstood. Carano’s statements were not illegal, hence the “freedom of speech” she has, but as a private company, Disney had the right to cut ties with her, which they did.
So, when literal text messages are read into evidence of Majors telling his abused girlfriend not to go to the hospital as it might be bad for them, even if she lies, there is no reason Disney needs to be sitting and waiting around for an actual legal decision in the case. There’s a moral issue here, the texts are abhorrent and there are multiple, credible allegations against Majors besides this, and a business issue, as if Majors is convicted well, he’s not going to be filming as Kang is he?
It makes no sense for Disney to sit in a holding pattern like this, and it doesn’t make them look benevolent, waiting for the ruling of the court, it makes them look like they’re hedging their bets regardless of his behavior. A company like Disney does not need the legal system to make these decisions for them, and it seems abundantly clear that Majors is not someone they should be working with, no matter how high profile his role previously was.
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