Complete Disaster For Jonathan Majors: Marvel Projects In Shambles?

By this point, I am sure most people know about the allegations against Marvel star Jonathan Majors. The allegations are severe and can alter his future completely. Over the last couple of years, Majors has shot into superstardom largely thanks to his role as Kang The Conquer in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. From there, he got the opportunity to star in the 2023 Rocky spin-off Creed 3 alongside fellow Marvel star Michael B. Jordan.

With Kang The Conquer set to take over as the leading villain within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is safe to say that we have not seen the last of Majors. Landing any leading role within the MCU can be career-defying. Although Jonathan Majors already received his primetime Emmy nomination before ever making it to the Marvel big screen, there can be no denying that this is where he broke out. These latest allegations are devastating, with phase 5 of the MCU primarily centered around the Creed 3 star.

Marvel Fans Divided Over Latest Controversy

The allegations against Jonathan Majors are not as simple as one might think. While it is always important to listen to all claims, it is also important to remember due process. Although most people are probably aware of the developments, let’s review the chargers again. Jonathan Majors was arrested on 25 March on charges of assault. This comes after it was alleged that he had beaten his girlfriend in the back of a taxi.

At the time of the 911 call, it was alleged that the victim suffered quite a few noticeable bruises at the hands of Jonathan Majors. The incident occurred after the couple got into an altercation over cheating allegations. As per the original statement, Major’s girlfriend accused him of cheating and insisted that she wanted to see his phone. When he denied her access, she tried to take the phone from him, and that is when the incident occurred.

He allegedly assaulted her with his open hand behind the year, resulting in her needing medical attention. All this led to Majors arrest for assault. His girlfriend was admitted to the hospital. However, this is not where the story ends because, after the original allegations, the characters have changed drastically. Before we get into that, however, let’s review the official response from Jonathan Majors’s lawyer.

In Defence of Marvel Star Jonathan Majors

As stated, the allegations of assault levied against Marvel star Jonathan Majors are pretty severe. Due to this, his lawyer immediately came out to dismiss any claims of domestic violence ever taking place. In a statement, Majors Lawyer said that his client was “completely innocent” He further stated, “We are quickly gathering and presenting evidence to the District Attorney with the expectation that all charges will be dropped imminently.”

The charges against majors get even more complicated. After the original allegations, most people assumed that he was assaulting his girlfriend, and the cops were called to break it up and arrest him. This turns out not to be the case at all. It turns out that Jonathan Majors decided to make the 911 call to the police. According to his version of events, his girlfriend was having a mental episode, and thus, he decided to call for help. However, in New York, if the cops are called, an arrest has to be made. In this case, the arrest was made against Majors. 

After the arrest, his girlfriend decided to recant her original version of events. This does not automatically prove Jonathan Majors’s Innocence. What can prove his innocence is the taxi camera footage. This is something that his lawyer also alluded to. In a further statement, his attorney spoke about all the evidence and stated, “This evidence includes video footage from the vehicle where this episode took place, witness testimony from the driver and others who both saw and heard the episode, and most importantly, two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.”

Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Welcome to Marvel 2023

The public reaction has been mixed with all the allegations against Jonathan Majors. As always, you have those who immediately condemned him and those who immediately started defending him. Only a handful stated that they wanted to wait for additional information. It was not only Twitter that decided to speak out against Majors. There were even some within Hollywood who decided that now was a good time to speak up.

One such case came from filmmaker A.B Allen who tweeted back in February, “There’s a particular actor, relatively new on the scene, who Twitter has violently fallen head over heels for who, in actuality, is a vicious, cruel, abusive human being, both professionally and in his personal life, and every new viral thirst tweet about him drives me insane.” After the allegations broke, one Twitter user responded to this post by saying, “Now we know who this tweet was about,” To this, Allen responded by simply saying, “Ding Ding Ding.”

Another actor Tim Nicolai, also took to Twitter to condemn Majors. Nicolai stated, “It’s strangely a relief to know other humans were out there who understand.” Nicolai went even further when he said, “I’m just going to say this about Jonathan Majors and be done with it: folks at Yale and the broader NYC community have known about him for years. He’s a sociopath and abuser, and that is how virtually everyone speaks about him. It’s a shame it took this long for him to be reported.”

It is worth pointing out that all of these statements are just allegations. It also comes after Majors was arrested. None of these people had anything negative to say about Majors before this event.

Jonathan Majors Lawyer Proof With Text Messages

The allegations against Jonathan Majors might be severe, but his lawyer has maintained his innocence throughout this process. In leaked text messages by Majors’s lawyer, the girlfriend “admitted that she was the one who used physical force against him.” She further added, “Will make sure nothing happens about this. I told them it was my fault for trying to grab your phone.”

Even with these text messages, things can still likely go to court since the district attorney formally charged Majors. Jonathan Majors is a massive star. A case like this can be career-defying for any unknown district attorney. It is unclear how these latest developments could affect the case. Since the incident has camera footage, this would be the smoking gun. The dashcam footage of the incident will likely determine the outcome.

As of right now, the charges may have been premature. Even the arrest itself can be quite deceiving. As stated earlier, in New York, if the police are called, an arrest has to be made. This is done to try and mitigate any fake calls. It also helps to protect any potential victim. Since an arrest is mandatory, we cannot simply go off that. It is essential to pass judgment once due process has taken its course. Although it is easy to decide, waiting for both sides to respond is always best. If the saying goes, believe victims and the victim says it did not happen, then we need to believe her.

Disney Exposed By Jonathan Majors

With all of the allegations against Jonathan Majors, many have pointed to a few hypocrisies by Disney. With Jonathan Majors accused of domestic violence, Marvel and Disney have responded slowly. Now it is worth pointing out that this is how it should be. Disney should not make any statement until the justice system has taken its course. However, this does not stop people from calling out Disney for its double standard.

Many are comparing this incident to Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. When Depp was accused of domestic violence, Disney quickly took action and immediately fired him. Depp did not only lose his job at Disney but also at Warner Bros in the Harry Potter spin-off, Fantastic Beasts. Many prefer to avoid this double standard. However, it is worth pointing out that two wrongs do not make a right.

While Disney responded poorly in the Johnny Depp case, they now have the opportunity to do better. It does seem like that is what they will do. Then again, I do have to be skeptical here. I do not believe that Disney cares one way or the other. For them, it is just about profit. Johnny Depp was on his way out at Disney. With the fourth Pirates movie not doing that well and the next likely to have been the last, it was easy to cut him off. With Jonathan Majors, a lot more is at stake. They are building Phase 5 of Marvel around him as the main villain. Firing him could cost millions. Therefore, they won’t fire him, just like how WB did not fire Ezra Miller. In this case, though, it worked out for the best.

Marvel Faces Another Complete Disaster As Avengers 5 Suffer Setback

As stated, the upcoming Marvel Avengers movie will star Jonathan Majors as the main villain. The allegations levied against Majors can have a drastically negative impact on the film. Should Disney decide to take a stand and eliminate Majors, it will heavily alter Phase 5 in the future. Major character Kang will likely make quite a few appearances throughout Phase 5. Thus, it will be challenging to replace him. Luckily it does not seem likely that they will. Right now, all sides are trending towards the direction that Majors is innocent. As such, it will be an injustice to fire him.

It is worth mentioning that Disney would not have fired him anyway. Although Disney claims zero tolerance for these things, we know that is not true. Those values quickly go out the window when money is on the line. Majors could have murdered his girlfriend on camera, and he would have still kept his job. If, however, Majors was towards the end of his career at Marvel and Disney had already made their money, then he would have been fired by now. Even if he is innocent, they would have fired him, just like with Johnny Depp.

Once again, in this case, the inconsistency of Disney might have a positive impact. It means that a potentially innocent man won’t lose his job. Marvel is already in big trouble right now. While Disney is still highly profitable, they are likely to make more money every year. Marvel might still be making money overall, but it is far from what it used to be. Large Corporations can’t just make lots of money; they must make all of it. When there is a decline, heads will roll.

Devastating Spiral For Marvel Star

Unfortunately for Jonathan Majors, the allegations alone have made him lose out on specific opportunities. Sadly, for some, it is guilty until proven innocent, and then you are still guilty because I do not like you. Although Majors has been able to keep his job for now, the same cannot be said about some of the sponsorship opportunities he received.

Before the allegations, Majors was scheduled to appear in some recruitment ads for the army. However, after the news of his arrest broke, the military released a statement saying the ads had been placed on hold. At the time, they said they would wait for due process to take its course before releasing the campaign. However, they have decided to drop Majors from the campaign altogether. This likely will not be the last time Jonathan Majors gets dropped from a project.

By this point, some brands who worked with him will likely no longer do so moving forward. He will likely also miss out on future opportunities due to this. Even if he manages to clear his name completely, the allegations alone could be enough to damage him. From a legal perspective, this whole process still needs to play out. Only time will tell whether or not the district attorney is going to drop the charges or not.

What is next for Jonathan Majors

Currently, Marvel will be pushing full steam ahead with Kang The Conquer. Jonathan Majors Kang will appear in Loki season 2, which is set to release later this year. Season 2 of Loki will be released in the summer, and Marvel confirmed that we will see the supervillain appear in the series. As of right now, there are no plans to cut him out. It seems that Marvel clearly sees what Phase 5 of the MCU will look like.

A large portion of this revolves around Major Kang. Rewriting and reshooting this now will likely be too expensive for a studio under pressure to make more money. With recent box office disasters, there is likely no room for any wasteful expenditure. This means that if it were filmed, it would all be added as scheduled. Marvel is building towards Avengers 5, and that whole plan will be concluded soon.

Conclusion

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how all of this will play out. Will this whole situation harm Jonathan Majors moving forward? If he is innocent, we would hope not. Now note that I did say proven innocent. This is different from how the justice system should work, but sadly it is. He should be innocent until proven guilty, but that is not how it works with these types of things. It will be up to the Majors to prove his innocence, not up to the accused to prove guilt. Granted, I understand that proving guilt from the victim’s perspective is equally challenging.

As for Marvel, it will be business as usual. They will move ahead with their plans and continue with more Marvel movies. Over the next few years, the superhero genre is going to ramp up exponentially. With Warner Bros building their own Cinematic Universe, things will likely only get crazier. As the race for box office dominance continues, only time will tell who will end up on top. Luckily for both DC and Marvel, there is room for both.