On December 18, Majors was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault. Immediately following the verdict, Marvel Studios released a statement announcing that he would no longer be appearing in the MCU any capacity.

This leaves Marvel boss Kevin Feige and his team with something of a quandary. They have spent two years now sowing the seeds for a Kang-centric storyline, starting all the way back in Season 1 of Loki in 2021. This year’s Quantumania ended on the threat of countless multiverse-spanning versions of Kang, all played by Majors, and he was poised to keep that role until at least 2026.

So Marvel’s options are to either pivot hard and rewrite future projects to remove Kang and introduce a new antagonist in his stead, a move which could jeopardize the already wildly-uneven quality of storytelling in the MCU’s post-Endgame era… or they recast Kang as soon as possible. Luckily, thanks to Loki, there’s already an in-universe precedent for “variants” of characters looking completely different and being portrayed by different actors.

As soon as news broke online that Marvel and Majors had parted ways, the speculation began as to who could take his place as Kang the Conqueror. A number of Black actors have been suggested, including: Tenet star John David Washington; John Boyega, who is no stranger to huge franchises after his time in the Star Wars movies; Trevante Rhodes, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning Moonlight; Aldis Hodge, who appeared in last year’s superhero movie Black Adam; and Yahya Abdul Mateen II, who has already played a DC villain and Dr. Manhattan.

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Chris Tucker as Kang when he runs into Shang Chi for the first time https://t.co/E3FWBlpMUQ pic.twitter.com/gCHTSdoLR1

— Ricky B. (@MrRickySpanish) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

I been calling Aaron Jennings Jonathan Minors since I saw him in Grand Crew 😭😭😭 Aaron, it’s your time. Kang is wide open, baby! pic.twitter.com/jLB8V5agON

— Stressed and highly favored. (@jessinhtx) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Jonathan Majors trying to show up at the MarvelStudios to continue playing Kang pic.twitter.com/2IzmdWDUeO

— 𝕲𝖆𝖊𝖙𝖆𝖓 (@Cuatropulseras) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

“How do you write off Kang”?Easy….The TVA is actually really good at their jobs. Now let’s just move on. https://t.co/h2Xj4aI1T3 pic.twitter.com/Iuoz0cbhOd

— Original Orange Bird (@ogorangebird) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

marvel killing off ant-man in his next appearance to further cassie’s development now they don’t need him for the rest of the kang storyline pic.twitter.com/Q8QgZ1B2Sa

— cam ✨ (@camandfilm) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

LOKI establishes that VARIANTS can look exactly like him or nothing at all. Kang being another force within the Multiverse, could have a new variant that arrives because of the events of LOKI’s season finale and looks completely different. pic.twitter.com/NgO2obk6Qh

— Christopher Marc (@_ChristopherM) December 19, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Fuck Kang.They know who we really here for. https://t.co/l0ytjW4MxG pic.twitter.com/Mb9VDcSVDb

— Habitual Chili’s Defender (@_lunardreams) December 18, 2023Advertisement – Continue Reading BelowThis content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

John David Washington for Kang pic.twitter.com/N0h6NuvdEB

— Wat (@_AWat_) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Now that Jonathan Majors has been found guilty. Here are some actors that could replace him as Kang in the MCU pic.twitter.com/T8xEPFJU8T

— Hector Navarro (@imhectornavarro) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Disney ain’t messing with Jonathan no more …… The Next Kang pic.twitter.com/t4SjvKsvOq

— The Heir For A Day (@tha_jerk2012) December 18, 2023This content is imported from x. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Now that Majors is out, Marvel has a chance to do something real funny with Kang… pic.twitter.com/ewpnIA0ke8

— Robert Butler III (@DirectorRB3) December 18, 2023

Boyega, for his part, has already joked on Twitter that he is not up for the role, and several fans now believe that this is the perfect time to bring in Dr. Doom as a substitute bad guy.