During a roundtable discussion with reporters at the Disney headquarters, Kevin Feige commented on the substitution of Jonathan Majors’ Kang with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom as the central antagonist in the Multiverse Saga.
The president of Marvel Studios sparked surprise when he stated that Jonathan Majors’ arrest for assault was not the actual reason Marvel replaced his character.
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During the press conference, via Deadline, Feige said, “Long before what happened to [Jonathan Majors], we had already begun to understand that Kang was not Thanos.”
The only character that could fit was him, as he has been that character in the comics for many years, and due to the Fox acquisition, we finally had the opportunity, and that’s Doctor Doom,” he told the audience, continuing, “We had begun discussing Doctor Doom even before we officially shifted away from Kang.
Feige then intensified his stance, stating, “In fact, I had already begun discussing this bold concept with Robert before”Ant-Man 3 even came out.”
Social media responded swiftly to his statements, with numerous people directly accusing him of deception, while others criticized the authorship ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: The Quantum Adventureto make Kang no longer viable as the next major threat in the MCU.
“I believe Jonathan Majors did an excellent job playing Kang the Conqueror, who might be the most underused character in the MCU,” X user@te_Neil_ettriggered a series of negative responses to the announcement shared on the website byThe Hollywood Handle.
Criticizing the failure of Kang due to the weak characterization of Majors’ role inAnt-Man 3, @Themoviebinge87stated, “When the supposedly most dangerous version of all the Kangs is defeated by a third-tier character and a group of ants, the whole storyline loses believability. They wrote themselves into a difficult situation with that choice.”
Others, like X user @blackiewashere, took it even further by launching a series of memes to expose Feige’s statements as complete falsehoods, including an image ofCaptain America: Brave New WorldStar Anthony Mackie with a caption that said, “When you know they’re lying but you’re still listening.”
Likewise, the comment section was also critical ofDiscussing the film’s post about the news. Highlighting the contradiction in Feige’s statements, X user@ResonantJusticeasked, “Is that why they had plans for an entirely different Avengers movie than the one we’re currently receiving when Ant-Man was released? and included a major post-credit scene hinting at the Council of Kangs?”
“Come on lol. No one buys this,” the user said.
Others like @JeanLucConneryexpressed their dissatisfaction with the choice, even stating it could be extremely harmful to the network, saying, “Reviving Jr. is a major error. He has long surpassed his expiration date and won’t be able to handle the challenging role of Dr. Doom. This will be the last blow to Marvel’s survival.”
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On a Instagram post byDexerto, which also reported the news, users were equally skeptical of Kevin Feige; many highlighting the discrepancies between his statements and the sequence of events.
In response to the news, user @wyatt_smyth_ asked, “Didn’t Kevin mention that majors is the center of the next story?”
Instagram user @omgrodzilla shared the same view, asking further, “If Ant-Man hadn’t failed in his role, would he still say this?”
“That’s why you revealed an Avengers film about Kang,” sarcastically noted @jacsonswain.
User @zick.wolf criticized the alleged intentional decision, stating, “So you squandered an entire series and several films? Yeah, that’s nonsense.”
“So you talked about ways to remove Jonathan Majors,” also criticized @captsow.
Reddit users showed the same level of rejection towards Feige’s statements as they did with Kang’s appearance in the post-credits scene ofAnt-Man and Wasp: Quantumaniaproving to be a source of difficulty
“No, I think this is pointless,” read one of the comments in a widely discussed post on ther/marvelstudiosSubreddit, where the majority of users ignored the remarks by the Marvel Studios president, and also mentioned, “He appeared in”Loki S1 finale, Antman(including the post-credit scene, which I found quite unsettling and effectively executed), andLoki S2.”
It went on, “He was clearly destined to be the main antagonist for this stage. Perhaps RDJ as Doom was a possibility further down the line after Kang, but they would have proceeded with Kang first if the legal problems hadn’t arisen.”
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Robert Downey Jr. was officially confirmed to reprise his role as Doctor Doom on July 28, 2024, during the San Diego Comic Con. This announcement came more than a year after Jonathan Majors was arrested.Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles, on the other hand, increased slightly more than a month following the launch ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania.
The movie’s mid-credits sequence is still a point of contention for many viewers, introducing Kang as the primary new antagonist; a move Marvel might have avoided if Feige had already been discussing with the former Iron Man star.
Although Feige’s statements imply that the choice was entirely intentional, which is likely the boldest casting move in MCU history, Reddit users remained unconvinced by his explanation.
“We had already decided to do away with Kang before the release of Ant-Man 3… which is why we included that mid-credit scene featuring the Council of Kangs,” a user asked on another thread on the site.r/shittymoviedetailsSubreddit, questioning the unexplained mid-credits scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The post-credit scene that appeared to be abandoned keeps being discussed in fan forums as it clearly introduced Kang as the main antagonist of the multiverse; featuring more dangerous versions of the character who are expected to replace He Who Remains.
In the scene, Rama-Tut, the Scarlet Centurion, and Immortus, all appearing to be more dangerous versions of Kang, are presented as they talk about seizing control of the Multiverse; implying that He Who Remains was probably stopping them from accomplishing this.
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Another user also rejected Kevin Feige’s statement that the Marvel leadership realized Kang couldn’t be as significant as Thanos, criticizing, “That is absurd, Thanos was just as big as Kang before the MCU, so that doesn’t make sense. I don’t doubt that the failure of”Antman 3was a key factor in removing the character rather than simply replacing him, but this is just absurd.
Although Thanos possesses greater physical power, Kang’s skill in navigating the multiverse and shaping events according to his will is unparalleled. Additionally, the MCU has already introduced Kang as a complex antagonist, showcasing remarkable talent in managing time travel and conquering realities across the two seasons of Loki, as well asAnt-Man 3.
Others share this viewpoint, contending that there was almost no justification for Marvel not making Kang just as prominent or even more so than Thanos. Some participants in the discussion propose that replacing Kang would have been a wiser choice than eliminating the character entirely, an action that Feige and other Marvel executives appear to be overlooking.
However, some people have argued that Doctor Doom was a more significant villain than Kang. In a three-year-old thread on ther/MCUTheoriesSubreddit, some users actually proposed that Kang would have needed to step aside for Doctor Doom at some point, as the latter is the primary villain in Secret Wars within the comics.
The move from Kang to Doctor Doom was done hastily, resulting in not enough time to properly establish RDJ’s Doctor Doom as a threat. Consequently, most MCU fans who aren’t familiar with the comics know Majors’ Kang better than Doctor Doom, so many aren’t aware of just how menacing he can be.
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