Jonathan Majors dropped by Marvel after conviction
Marvel has dropped actor Jonathan Majors after the actor was found guilty of assault and harassment on Monday following the conclusion of his high-profile trial in New York.
The studio didn’t share additional details.
Majors was acquitted of a separate assault charge and of aggravated harassment. Majors has maintained his innocence throughout, with attorney Priya Chaudhry arguing that the accuser, Majors’ former girlfriend Grace Jabbari, had fabricated the whole ordeal.
A Manhattan jury found actor Jonathan Majors guilty of assaulting ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, ending the high-profile domestic violence trial.
Majors’ charges stem from a March dispute that led to Jabbari being hospitalized for minor injuries. Prosecutors argued that Majors had been physically and psychologically abusive toward Jabbari for years, culminating in the alleged assault. Meanwhile, Majors’ defense team has long claimed that Jabbari was the actual aggressor in the former couple’s altercation. Jabbari was arrested in October after turning herself in, but the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to pursue charges.
“These prosecutors bought Grace’s white lies, her big lies and all her pretty little lies,” Chaudhry said during her closing statement.
In a statement shared after the conviction, Manhattan Dist. Atty. Alvin Bragg said, “the evidence presented throughout this trial illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion far too common across the many intimate partner violence cases we see each and every day. ... We thank the jury for its service and the survivor for bravely telling her story despite having to relive her trauma on the stand.”
Once a rising Hollywood star, Majors has been a major presence throughout Marvel Studios’ film and TV slate. He made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in 2021 as the mysterious He Who Remains in the Season 1 finale of “Loki,” which unleashed the multiverse upon the MCU.
Jonathan Majors’ assault trial nears a close as the actor’s defense team and Manhattan prosecutors delivered their closing arguments Thursday.
He was properly introduced as the villain Kang the Conqueror in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which included a glimpse into the studio’s bigger plans around the character that were expected to eventually culminate in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” slated for 2026. The film’s creative team experienced some recent shakeups, including the departure of director Destin Daniel Cretton. “Loki” creator Michael Waldron — who also wrote 2022’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and had already been tapped to write the upcoming “Avengers: Secret Wars” — recently was hired to take over writing duties on the movie.
Most recently, Majors appeared in the second season of “Loki” as Victor Timely, an eccentric inventor from the late 19th century (and another Kang variant). While the studio had kept mum about Majors’ status with the franchise since his arrest, when the season launched, “Loki” executive producer Kevin Wright told outlets that the actor’s legal troubles had not affected the series.
“The Kang Dynasty” takes its subtitle from a comic book storyline that involves Kang and his son successfully conquering the world (at least temporarily) and facing off against the Avengers. While it’s unlikely the film will be a direct adaptation of the comics, “Quantumania’s” post-credits scene teased the potential for many more Kangs to come, all seemingly portrayed by Majors. That version of the Council of Kangs will no longer be seen. (“Loki” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” have established a precedent for different actors portraying different variants.)
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Majors was arrested in March on charges of assault, strangulation and harassment after New York City police responded to an emergency call from an apartment. He was later arraigned and charged with two misdemeanor counts of third-degree assault and one misdemeanor count each of third-degree attempted assault, second-degree aggravated harassment and second-degree harassment. After a number of delays, Majors’ trial began on Nov. 29.
Before his arrest, Majors had garnered acclaim for his performances in films such as “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” (2019) and “The Harder They Fall” (2021) as well as the series “Lovecraft Country.” But the assault allegations — and alleged history of abuse that came to light following his arrest — resulted in Majors being dropped by his management and public relations firms, and released from a number of upcoming projects.
Majors is not the only actor from a prominent superhero franchise to face troubling allegations. Among the most recent is Warner Bros. and DC’s “Flash” star Ezra Miller, who was arrested twice in Hawaii for allegations including assault, faced grooming allegations and a protective order in North Dakota, and pled guilty to trespassing for an incident in Vermont. “The Flash” bombed at the box office in June.
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