Disney and Marvel have dropped actor Jonathan Majors from all future initiatives after he was discovered responsible on two of 4 counts in the New York legal case stemming from a home dispute along with his ex-girlfriend.
The Emmy nominee was convicted in December of one rely of reckless assault in the third diploma and a non-criminal cost of harassment as a violation. He was acquitted on one other assault cost and one rely of aggravated harassment.
Majors, who’s dealing with imprisonment however will not be formally sentenced till February 2024, was the cornerstone of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Phase Five, along with his character, Kang the Conqueror, set to span a number of films as the greater – and badder – model of Thanos.
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Majors’ conviction and subsequent firing, nevertheless, has put years of planning into freefall – and he is since stated his “world stopped” after Marvel dropped him in an interview with ABC News.
The disgraced actor most just lately appeared as Kang in the second season of Loki, and was subsequent set to seem in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which was slated for a May 2026 release.
So what, precisely, occurs now {that a} plethora of initiatives do not have their fundamental antagonist?
According to the Associated Press, Marvel Studios was ready for the chance that Majors would have to exit the franchise following his March 2023 arrest.
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Due to the writers strike, nevertheless, the studio was restricted in its capacity to get forward on rewrites whereas Majors ready for his trial. Marvel has, nevertheless, just lately employed Michael Waldron to rewrite The Kang Dynasty.
The precise future of the MCU’s Phase Five is unclear when it comes to the way it will work round Majors’ conviction, and Disney has refused to touch upon the matter.
Read on beneath for what to know about Phase Five following Jonathan Majors’ conviction, and in the event you want a helpful information to the MCU’s earlier section (Phase Four), we now have one right here.
What is the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Disney and Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) started as a humble adaptation of Stan Lee’s Iron Man comics in 2008 – 15 years later, we’re now in Phase Five of a profitable, multi-decade-long, six-phase juggernaut.
The release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022 marked the finish of Phase Four, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania formally heralding The Multiverse Saga into its penultimate third.
While Marvel fanatics might have a eager understanding of how every character and media piece’s key storylines (and hidden Easter eggs) weave into the greater image, for others, it may be exhausting to perceive with out an intricately-drawn thoughts map – particularly as now the canon envelopes each the huge and small screens.
If you have obtained no thought what we’re speaking about, don’t fret. We’re right here to make it simple for you.
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What is Phase Five?
The MCU is thought for its delicately-woven plotlines, with big-name characters typically making cameos in different films whereby they don’t seem to be the titular character.
The laundry checklist of characters and totally different franchises inside the MCU can get complicated at instances, notably when the occasions of one micro-franchise impacts one other (à la Avengers and, nicely, the whole lot else).
Marvel Studios has damaged the MCU into phases, whereby every section has a definite overarching plot level that connects every media piece and facilitates the seamless development to the subsequent section.
CATCH UP ON WHAT YOU MISSED: What to know about Marvel Studios’ Phase Four films and TV shows
Phases One (2008 to 2012), Two (2013 to 2015) and Three (2016 to 2019) are collectively referred to as The Infinity Saga, which started with Iron Man (2008).
Phase Four marked the begin of the post-Infinity Saga – The Multiverse Saga – which was fully new territory for longtime followers even with the unique comedian ebook supply materials to refer to.
Fans had been launched to a post-Thanos, post-Tony Stark, post-Steve Rogers world as Phase Four (2021 to 2022) handled the fallout of The Snap and its reverse, whereas additionally making an attempt to arrange the MCU’s subsequent huge dangerous.
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This meant beginning to clarify the multiverse to followers, including – particularly – the penalties of tampering with time, alternate universes and dimensions.
Phase Five (2023 to 2024) expanded on this, beginning with a bang because it actually launched followers (past imprecise mentions or one-off scenes) to The Multiverse Saga’s final villain – Kang the Conqueror – in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Marvel is thought for doing issues in threes – their films’ third acts are well-known (and notorious) – and The Multiverse Saga’s third act, Phase Six (2024 to 2026), was set to conclude Kang’s grip on the overarching MCU storyline, be it by victory or defeat.
That’s all up in the air now, however there are particular person initiatives that will not essentially be affected by it. Read on to see what films and television shows fall underneath Phase Five.
Spoiler warning: The following sections might embody spoilers for varied films and TV shows. Read on at your personal threat.
Deadpool 3
The subsequent movie set to be launched underneath the Phase Five umbrella is Deadpool 3, which will see Ryan Reynolds return as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, and Hugh Jackman make his highly-anticipated return as James ‘Logan’ Howlett/Wolverine.
It’s scheduled for a July 26, 2024 release, and that is just about all we know about it.
Captain America: Brave New World
Not a lot is thought about the fourth Captain America film, besides that Liv Tyler is lastly coming again to the MCU – and that it is now referred to as Captain America: Brave New World as a substitute of the unique title, Captain America: New World Order.
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That’s in accordance to Anthony Mackie, who’s set to reprise his function as Sam Wilson/Captain America in the movie. He wrote on Instagram, alongside a snap of him and Harrison Ford behind the scenes: “When Harrison Ford tells you how kicking ass should look, you listen! LoL… Thanks for the on set wisdom and laughs my friend!”
“Can’t wait to do it again… Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World in theatres May 3, 2024,” he concluded.
The release date was then modified to July 26, 2024, due to Hollywood’s strikes, and once more quietly to February 14, 2025.
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Tyler will reprise her function as mobile biologist Betty Ross, who’s the now-President of the United States Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross’ (performed by Ford) daughter and former girlfriend of (Edward Norton’s) Bruce Banner.
Danny Ramirez can even reprise his function as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, first seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Interestingly, Sebastian Stan, who performs Bucky Barnes, just isn’t at the moment on the forged checklist.
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Released in February 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania formally marked the begin of Phase Five (in the event you do not rely The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special).
Paul Rudd returned as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, the petty-criminal-turned-Avenger who was caught in the Quantum Realm for the period of ‘the blip’. Evangeline Lilly returned as Hope van Dyne/Wasp, as did Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer as Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne respectively.
Kathryn Newton made her Marvel debut as Cassie Lang, changing Emma Fuhrmann, and Jonathan Majors returned as Kang the Conqueror.
In the movie, Scott, Hope, Cassie, Hank and Janet discover the Quantum Realm, and come face-to-face with Kang, who has a historical past with Janet.
The mid-credits and post-credits scene reveal there are a plethora of Kang variants who’re planning a multiversal rebellion, all led by Immortus, which arrange Loki Season 2.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
After all the behind-the-scenes chaos that was James Gunn’s reign as, ridding of and return to director and author, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was lastly launched in Australian cinemas in May 2023.
Set after Avengers: Endgame and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), how the movie suits round Thor: Love and Thunder is definitely nonetheless unsure because it gives no time-specific particulars, however its premise hinges on Rocket’s previous.
Chris Pratt returned as Peter Quill/Star-Lord with Karen Gillan reprising her function as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Dave Bautista as Drax and Sean Gunn as Kraglin.
Zoe Saldana returned as Gamora, although not as we know her. The final we noticed of Gamora was her time-travelled 2014 model in Avengers: Endgame, as the unique all of us got here to love died in the occasions of Infinity War.
Will Poulter additionally made his Marvel debut in the movie as Adam Warlock.
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The Marvels
Captain Marvel 2 ended up being formally titled The Marvels and was launched in November 2023.
The earlier sentence may very well be left at that, however in true Marvel style, pluralising ‘Marvels’ is a transfer that’s something however easy.
The Marvels is referring to Brie Larson‘s Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel and two others – Monica Rambeau, the daughter of Danvers’ buddy Maria Rambeau, performed by Teyonah Parris, who obtained particular powers from Wanda Maximoff in WandaImaginative and prescient; and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, performed by Iman Vellani, hailed by the ‘S’ in the brand, which is the identical one as the ‘S’ in the Ms. Marvel brand.
Zawe Ashton – who’s engaged to Tom Hiddleston (Loki) in actual life – performed Kree warrior Dar-Benn, and Samuel L. Jackson returned as Nick Fury.
The Marvels targeted on Carol, Monica and Kamala attempting to work out why their powers had turn out to be entangled, which triggered them to swap locations with one another each time they used them.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Five television collection
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, launched in December 2022 and starring Kevin Bacon.
- Secret Invasion, starring Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Don Cheadle as James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes and Emilia Clarke as G’iah, launched in June 2023
- Loki Season 2, launched in October 2023
- What If…? Season 2, set for December 22, 2023 release
- Echo, starring Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez/Echo, Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, and Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, launched on January 10, 2024
- Agatha: Coven of Chaos, a WandaImaginative and prescient spin-off starring Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness and Patti LuPone as Lilia Calderu, set for a late 2024 release
- Eyes of Wakanda
- Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man
- Marvel Zombies
- Ironheart, starring Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart and Anthony Ramos as Parker Robbins/The Hood
- Daredevil: Born Again, starring Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher, and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
What to anticipate from Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Six
It’s a bit up in the air at the second, contemplating Marvel Studios has constructed The Multiverse Saga round Majors’ casting as Kang the Conqueror.
Majors, in March 2023, was arrested in New York City for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. Majors has strenuously denied all allegations of wrongdoing, and a jury discovered him responsible of two of 4 counts stemming from his arrest.
What we do know about Phase Six is that the following films have been introduced:
- Fantastic Four
- Thunderbolts
- Blade
- Avengers 5 (previously Avengers: The Kang Dynasty)
- Avengers: Secret Wars
Thunderbolts
While Sebastian Stan just isn’t on the forged checklist for Captain America: New World Order, he’s for Thunderbolts.
It was initially set for release in December 2024 as half of Phase Five, however has since moved to Phase Six with a projected July 25, 2025 release.
All we know is Harrison Ford is hooked up to the undertaking as Thunderbolt Ross, as is Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov Red Guardian, and Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster.
All present forged members are reprising their roles from earlier MCU initiatives.
Blade
Briefly arrange in 2021’s Eternals, Ebony Blade will seem on this movie. As for who performs him, Mahershala Ali voiced the character in Eternals‘ post-credits scene, however his casting has not been confirmed for this movie.
Similarly, Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harington appeared in that very same post-credits scene, however it’s unknown as to if he is showing on this movie, which, like Thunderbolts, was set to be launched as half of Phase Five, however has since been pushed to Phase Six with a November 7, 2025 release date.
Fantastic Four
Marvel has teased a return of Fantastic Four for years, and now we know it is set for release in May 2025. But that is all we know.
Nevertheless, it will likely be attention-grabbing to see who they forged as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, contemplating Chris Evans (often known as Steve Rogers/Captain America of the Captain America/Avengers franchises) and Michael B. Jordan (often known as N’Jadaka/Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens of Black Panther) have beforehand performed the function when Fantastic Four‘s rights had been owned by Fox – and The Office‘s John Krasinski made a cameo as Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Dr. Stephen Strange returned in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in Australia in May 2022, and it was immediately arrange by WandaImaginative and prescient – which noticed Elizabeth Olsen‘s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch enslave a small city in a grief-induced rage – and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Benedict Cumberbatch‘s second solo movie noticed him cope with the penalties of messing with the multiverse in Spider-Man: No Way Home, an idea first defined in the Loki television collection.
In the movie, Doctor Strange was arrested by Ultron-like robots – a creation of Tony Stark’s first seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron – and confronted Professor Xavier (performed by X-Men‘s Patrick Stewart) in a trial carried out by the Illuminati society, which is a secret governing physique for superhumans that in the comics, contains Stark, Strange, Reed Richards.
Krasinski, Stewart and the wider Illuminati’s appearances weren’t the solely attention-grabbing casting selections in Doctor Strange – Xochitl Gomez starred as America Chavez, who in the comics is thought by her moniker Miss America as half of the Young Avengers.
While Marvel has not introduced any plans for a Young Avengers film or present, Phase Four was full of its Easter eggs – Cassie Lang was recast in the lead up to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Kate Bishop, performed by Hailee Steinfeld, appeared in the Hawkeye collection on Disney+.
Scarlet Witches’ twins, as seen in WandaImaginative and prescient and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, are additionally Young Avengers in the comedian supply materials, and Patriot, often known as Eli Bradley, grandson of super-soldier Isaiah Bradley, made his MCU debut in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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