MCU Kang recast controversy has fans baffled

MCU fans are baffled at a recast controversy, with some calling it “very silly”.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a fair few recasts over the years. Fans may remember the original Bruce Banner and James Rhodes actors—then played by Edward Norton and Terrence Howard in their original appearances.

It’s pretty clear that Marvel isn’t opposed to recasting a certain actor or role if it needs to. After the death of William Hurt in 2022, the character of Thaddeus Ross was played by Harrison Ford in Captain America: Brave New World.

However, one specific casting controversy led to Marvel canning a character entirely instead of recasting them, and it’s got fans confused.

Jonathan Majors played Kang the Conqueror in the Loki television series, before debuting on the big screen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

In December 2023 though, Majors was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment. After his conviction, he was dropped by Marvel from having any further involvement with the MCU.

Despite Marvel Studios having larger plans for the character, including the first Avengers film of the Multiverse Saga being titled The Kang Dynasty, the character was canned from the MCU and hasn’t reappeared since.

It seems that Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor Von Doom will take over Kang’s role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, albeit with some major rewrites to the script since the controversy involving Majors.

Marvel fans are baffled by this, who believe Disney could have simply recast the character with a new actor in the role.

A fan wrote on the Marvel Reddit page: “I have no problem with Doom taking over as a villain, especially with the Fantastic Four joining the MCU, but it does kinda shock me they decided to completely switch villains instead of just having a different actor play Kang?”

“Probably just the stars aligning, as it were,” wrote a reply. “Majors’ issues, Kang not being received very well so far, Marvel Studios cutting back on content / trying to take fewer risks, FF movie coming up, and big Doom event coming up in the comics. Plus, Doom played a bigger role in the Secret Wars comics than Kang.”

“I think they will eventually revisit Kang, once all this Majors s**t is a distant memory,” wrote another comment. “I hope so anyway Kang should've been a big player.”

It’s likely that Kang could be a villain that shows up in Phase 7 or beyond, recast with a new actor playing him.

He’s a popular villain in the comic books, and would probably make a larger impact if the story was handled better.

But at the same time, Marvel may want to not remind people about a film that was received poorly, so it's entirely possible he won't appear in live action again.