Jonathan Majors: guilty, fired and... goodbye to Hollywood?
Some may be surprised that Jonathan Mayors received a letter of termination from Marvel and its Cinematic Universe (MCU).
However, those who followed news about the actor behind 'Kang: the Conqueror' may have already seen problems on the horizon. For months now, there has been a controversy surrounding the actor and his alleged violent behavior against his partner.
Image: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' (2023) / MCU
In fact, Marvel's letter had been drafted for months and was just waiting to be mailed when the time was right.
Majors' scandal was subject to speculation for a long time, but recent developments have confirmed that he did, indeed, use violence against his then-girlfriend.
In the photo, Majors stands to the left of James Friend and his close colleague Michael B. Jordan at the 2023 Oscar gala.
Jonathan Majors - who stands here opposite Paul Rudd in 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' (2023) - went from being Marvel's great hope to recover its glory years to getting fired.
Image: MCU
The reason for his demise was a guilty verdict for domestic violence. A jury of six people in a Manhattan Court declared that he was guilty of beating Grace Jabbari, his ex-partner, in March 2023.
Jabbari accused Majors of attacking her while they were fighting in a taxi in late March. According to Variety and Forbes, the actress declared that she received treatment for minor head and neck injuries after the incident.
From the moment the incident became known to the public, Jonathan Majors' lawyers have worked to clean up the actor's reputation. They went as far as to blame Grace Jabbari for the attacks.
One of the details that have been most commented on online, for better and worse, is the Bible that Jonathan Majors carried with him to the trial every day, as TMZ points out.
Pending the sentence, which will be announced on February 6, 2024, TMZ indicates that there could be a year in prison on the line for the actor.
By now, Jonathan Majors, at 34 years old, is out of the MCU. Superhero movies are generally considered among the most lucrative projects a Hollywood actor can achieve.
As Majors will not step back into the shoes of Kang the Conqueror, the cornerstone of Marvel's new phase in theaters, Thanos-style, the producers will have to come up with another solution.
Image: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' (2023) / MCU
It remains to be seen if Marvel chooses to look for an actor to replace Jonathan Majors or if they decide to 'kill' the character. Previous examples of such dilemmas include the switch from Edward Norton to Mark Ruffalo to play the Hulk.
Image: Edward Norton in 'The Incredible Hulk' (2008) / MCU
Of course, Marvel wasn't Majors' only employer. The actor rose to fame with the 2019 film 'The Last Black Man in San Francisco,' getting nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and he also worked with director Spike Lee on 'Da 5 Bloods' (2020).
His performance as Atticus Freeman in the HBO series 'Lovecraft Country' (2020) earned him a lot of praise too. Vogue magazine called him "the emotional core of the show."
A lot depends on sentencing in February 2024. In addition, it remains to be seen how producers consider Jonathan Majors' reputation after this incident. In fact, he would not be the first celebrity with a history of domestic violence to keep getting booked for big roles. In Hollywood, everything is unpredictable.