Jonathan Majors speaks out about Robert Downey Jr.'s return to Marvel and Avengers: Doomsday

After months of silence following his assault allegations last year, Jonathan Majors has spoken out about the recent announcement that Marvel has decided to go a different direction for its upcoming releases.

During Sand Diego Comic-Con last week, Marvel made the shocking announcement that the next Marvel movie would be Avengers: Doomsday, instead of Avengers: Kang Dynasty. In addition, Robert Downey Jr. revealed his Marvel return as the film's main villain Doctor Victor von Doom.

Previously, Marvel had been building a story around Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors. First introduced as He Who Remains in season 1 of Loki, Kang would also star as the villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and again in Loki season 2. The next Avengers film had originally been Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, with the Avengers expected to team up to defeat thousands of Kang variants throughout the multi-verse.

However, when it was revealed last year that Majors was facing assault allegations against his ex-girlfriend, Marvel was forced to deal with the difficult task of pivoting an entire phase of movies and coming up with a new villain for the Avengers to face. Majors was dropped from several projects, including Marvel, and has been relatively silent until now.

A TMZ reporter caught up with the actor this week and was able to get several comments on Marvel's decisions. When asked about Marvel's choice to drop Kang and focus on Doom, Majors replied that he was "heartbroken...I love him. I love Kang. Doctor Doom is wicked though." The reporter also brought up Downey Jr. and Ezra Miller's less-than-stellar pasts, asking if Majors believes it's unfair that he hasn't been given the same opportunities as them.

"I think it's fair that Mr. Downey is being, and has been, greeted with patience and curiosity and love. And that Mr. Miller has gotten the same treatment. And that they're being allowed to work their art," Majors said. "I didn't really get that." When asked if he would want his old role back, the actor replied, "Kang? H**l yeah...I love him...if that's what the fans want. If that's what Marvel wants...h**l yeah."

Downey faced legal troubles and arrests for years for drug addiction, making his Hollywood comeback with Iron Man in 2008. Since then, the star has become a household name, leader of the Avengers, and an Oscar winner. Ezra Miller, most recently known for portraying Flash in the DC universe from 2014 to 2023, has also faced a string of controversies, including claims of assault, harassment, abuse, and grooming. Despite the allegations, Miller continued to portray the superhero, up to the release of The Flash in summer of 2023.

Marvel was shaping Kang up to be the next Thanos-level threat of the MCU, and Majors to be one of the next breakout superhero stars. Unfortunately, with his allegations and Marvel being in a precarious state after several disappointing releases, perhaps it's best to leave Kang behind and try something new. Whether the Robert Downey Jr./Doom plan will actually be a good move remains to be seen, but with the X-Men and Fantastic Four now part of the MCU, they can bring a whole new cast of characters to Marvel fans, hopefully reinvigorating and revitalizing the studio with a breath of fresh air.