Virtually a 12 months in the past, Marvel Studios left followers in Corridor H at San Diego Comedian-Con (and followers who weren’t in attendance) shook when it was revealed that Robert Downey Jr. would play Physician Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. All of that got here after Jonathan Majors was dropped from his function as Kang the Conqueror as a result of being tried and located responsible of a number of expenses, together with assault. I’ve been curious in regards to the precise timeline of the change from Kang to Doom and, now, Kevin Feige is offering some readability on that entrance.
Kevin Feige Explains When Marvel Studios Shifted Away From Kang For Doom
It might be straightforward for some to deduce one factor about Marvel Cinematic Universe’s transition from Kang the Conqueror because the Multiverse Saga’s Massive Dangerous to Physician Doom. The plain assumption could possibly be that the Doom concept was initiated within the aftermath of Jonathan Majors’ firing. Nonetheless, I’d lengthy questioned if that was undoubtedly the case, and it appears it wasn’t. Kevin Feige not too long ago took half in a wide-ranging dialogue with information shops, together with THR, and he set the file straight on why Doom was introduced into the image:
We had began even earlier than what had occurred to the actor occurred, we had began to appreciate that Kang wasn’t sufficiently big, wasn’t Thanos, and that there was just one character that could possibly be that, as a result of he was that within the comics for many years and many years. Due to the Fox acquisition, we lastly had it and it was Dr. Doom. So we had began speaking about Dr. Doom even earlier than we formally pivoted from Kang. And in reality, I had began speaking with Robert [Downey Jr.] about this audacious concept earlier than Ant-Man 3 even got here out. It was a protracted plan that we had needed to take one in every of our biggest characters and make the most of one in every of our biggest actors.
So, because the Marvel Studios president laid out, the notion of getting Robert Downey Jr. to play Victor von Doom pre-dated Jonathan Majors’ authorized entanglements. What I discover significantly attention-grabbing is that these discussions apparently even got here earlier than Kang’s big-screen debut in 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. I’ve to say that I personally loved Kang as a personality and was curious to see how he and his variants can be a risk in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (which in the end grew to become Doomsday).
As a lot as I appreciated the idea of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes being in battle with somebody who was figuratively (and actually) in battle with himself, I’m longing for the Physician Doom plans. Whereas that every one continues to unfold, Jonathan Majors now finds himself in a really completely different skilled house.
The place Did Jonathan Majors’ Kang Pop Up In The MCU, And Why Was The Actor Fired?
Jonathan Majors’ casting within the third Ant-Man movie broke in late 2020, with many expressing curiosity in regards to the then-rising actor reportedly taking over the function of Kang the Conqueror. From there, Majors made his MCU debut as a Kang variant named He Who Stays throughout Loki Season 1, and he later reprised that function and portrayed Victor Well timed in Season 2. Along with enjoying Kang in Quantumania, Majors additionally appeared because the variants Rama-Tut, Centurion and Immortus in the course of the movie’s mid-credits scene.
In April 2023, the Creed III star was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, and the case ultimately went to trial in November of that very same 12 months. The decision was delivered in December 2023, with Majors being discovered responsible on a cost of reckless assault within the third diploma and a cost of harassment as a violation. Additionally acquitted on a cost of assault and aggravated harassment, Majors was ultimately sentenced to 52 weeks of probation and ordered to participate in a home violence intervention program.
Jonathan Majors has since revealed that he wrote a letter to Kevin Feige within the aftermath of the decision coming down. Not solely that, however Majors expressed curiosity in returning as Kang. Nonetheless, Feige and co. at the moment are totally on observe to convey Physician Doom to life as soon as extra on the massive display screen. No matter how every part in the end shakes out, I’m simply glad to lastly have some readability concerning Doom’s entrance and Kang’s exit.
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18, 2026. Whereas followers wait, they will stream different MCU films in addition to TV exhibits on Disney+.