Marvel Dumps Jonathan Majors Minutes After Domestic Violence Verdict

Marvel has decided to part ways with Jonathan Majors following the actor being convicted on Monday of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Rolling Stone has confirmed.

Marvel had been setting up Majors’ character Kang — the ultimate multiverse villain with endless variants — to lead the studio’s next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in May 2026. But after the 34-year-old’s arrest on March 25 for allegedly attacking his girlfriend Grace Jabbari, his future with the studio seemed to be uncertain.

Last month, the first sign of trouble came when news broke that director Destin Daniel Cretton had left the project, but was still working with Marvel on a sequel for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and TV series Wonder Man. Around the same time, reports circulated that movie’s scriptwriter Jeff Loveness had also exited the film. (Loveness wrote this year’s Antman and the Wasp Quantumania, which first introduced Kang.)

It isn’t clear if Marvel will recast Majors or pivot to a different storyline entirely. The decision follows a very rocky year for Marvel, following Majors’ arrest, the firing of top executive Victoria Alonso, and the studio seeing its worst box office opening weekend with The Marvels. Reps for Marvel and Majors did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment.

On Monday, a New York City jury found Majors guilty of harassment in the second degree and misdemeanor assault in the third degree, and acquitted him on charges of aggravated harassment and assault with the intention of causing physical injury following a three-day jury deliberation.

Majors is accused of fighting with his then-girlfriend, professional dancer Grace Jabbari, in the back of a hired car when Majors received a romantic text from another woman, and Jabbari saw the message and grabbed his phone. Prosecutors alleged that during the fight, Majors tried to get a phone back from Jabbari by twisting her arm behind her back, squeezing and prying her fingers, striking her in the back of her head, and shoving her back into the car. 

Majors faces up to a year in jail and a tentative sentencing date has been scheduled for February 2024. His attorney Priya Chaudhry has already vowed to fight to clear Majors’ name, saying they were “disappointed” that “despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him.”

Before his arrest, Majors was on track to have his biggest year yet, following the releases of Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He was also receiving early Oscar buzz for his performance as a lonely bodybuilder with violent fantasies in Magazine Dreams. However, Majors was quickly dropped by both his management and publicist teams in the wake of the accusations, and Searchlight Pictures indefinitely postponed Magazine Dreams’ December theatrical release.

From Rolling Stone US.