News culture Evicted from the MCU, the former main villain of Marvel films had “his heart broken” upon seeing the announcement of Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom.
As a brand new antagonist has just been officially announced for the MCU, this former main villain realizes that he has been sidelined from Marvel’s projects. He seems somewhat affected by this situation.
A new antagonist for the MCU
From July 25 to 28, 2024, the San Diego Comic-Con was held, an annual festival organized in honor of American comics. For the occasion, major players from the industry gathered, including figures from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On stage, they were able to reveal some of their plans for the future, including the return of the Russo brothers, a much-anticipated news that we already shared in this article. However, the highlights of this conference mostly centered around the highly awaited fifth installment of the Avengers, whose title Avengers: Kang Dynasty has been changed to Avengers: Doomsday. This plan marks a radical shift for the MCU, with a certain Doctor Doom making his entrance into the universe. At the end of the show, a well-known actor was revealed to portray this character, I am, of course, talking about Robert Downey Jr, the one and only.
Undoubtedly, this change of plans regarding the antagonist for the upcoming Avengers deeply disappoints Kang the Conqueror. Introduced as the future main antagonist in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the supervillain barely had time to reveal himself in the second season of Loki before being ousted from the projections of Kevin Feige, the CEO of Marvel Cinematics. If the announcements at Comic-Con suggest that the Conqueror is likely to be forgotten in the universe, it still remains to be seen how. Because, in fact, the post-credit scene of the last Ant-Man hinted at a significant return of the antagonist. Thus, it will be quite a balancing act for the screenwriters to perform, if they do not want to shock the fan base attached to Kang.
An actor far from flawless
Following Comic-Con, Jonathan Majors, the actor who portrays Kang, was interviewed by TMZ. In their interview, the comedian stated that he was “heartbroken” to see Marvel distancing itself from the character of Kang. Like everyone else, he saw the announcement of Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, but that doesn’t seem to cool him off. When asked about his desire to reprise his role, he hesitated not for a second:
Of course! I love him, I love Kang. If that’s what the fans want, and if that’s what Marvel wants, then let’s go for it. Sure.
It is important to remember that the actor has been sidelined by Marvel after revelations about domestic violence incidents led to accusations against him. Over time, these accusations have multiplied, revealing further troubles, including toxic behavior, abuses of power, and physical and verbal assaults. Consequently, a trial was opened against him at the end of November 2023; from which he was found guilty of assault and harassment by the U.S. justice system. Thus, knowing Disney’s policy regarding such cases, it is likely that the actor will never step foot on a set of the American giant again. This gives us a clearer understanding of the reasons that led Marvel to completely rethink the narrative arc of the upcoming films in the franchise.
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