The Marvel fandom has understood that the studio behind the ever-sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe faces some difficult decisions. After casting Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, the key “Big Bad” in Marvel’s upcoming phases, the actor became involved in unresolved legal issues related to an alleged assault. That case is ongoing, with Majors’ legal team recently claiming the actor was “taunted” by police. But from the Marvel Studios standpoint, it seemed clear that the creatives were waiting on clarification before any behind-the-scenes moves were made, seeing as how embedded into the fabric of the upcoming MCU Kang the Conqueror appears to be.
A new rumor floated by Jeff Sneider of The Hot Mic claims that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania screenwriter Jeff Loveness is off Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the next planned Avengers film that wasn’t expected to arrive in theaters until May 2, 2025. That’s a bit of a bombshell that could have tremendous ripple effects on the rest of the MCU… which already was tiptoeing its way forward as it tried to figure out how to make Phase 5 come together in a satisfying fashion. Here are three thoughts I have about the situation, if Loveness actually has been removed from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and how this all fits into other problems facing the MCU (and the industry) moving forward.
This Might Be Because Of Ant-Man 3’s Reception
Heading into the February release of Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel was pushing the narrative that casual fans needed to come see this big-screen introduction to Kang the Conqueror (Majors), because he was going to be the Thanos-level threat bringing the Marvel universe together over the next few years. If Phases One through Three were The Infinity Saga, Marvel called these next phases The Multiverse Saga, which Kang very much was expected to be the heart of.
Only, that buzz didn’t help Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Critics kicked it around (our own Eric Eisenberg only gifted it two stars in his official review), and that likely affected the film’s box office. The film opened at number one, but then dropped a ridiculous 70% in its second weekend. Quantumania finished its run with a worldwide gross of $463.3 million, putting it below its two Ant-Man predecessors, but ahead of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals. So, not Spider-Man: No Way Home or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but not the lowest of the MCU’s Phase Four.
Does Loveness deserve some of the blame for the below-average performance? Probably. Peyton Reed was a consistent influence over the Ant-Man world, but Loveness took the series to some weird places once they entered the Quantum Realm (take a look at his idea for M.O.D.O.K., and how THAT was received), which general audiences rejected. Personally, I loved what he brought. And he has passionately defended his Ant-Man choices. But I’m a Quantumania apologist, and I understand why Marvel might have gotten cold feet over the decision to hand the keys to the next Avengers movie to a writer who swung big, but missed with some audiences. This isn’t Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely coming off of Captain America: Civil War to tackle Infinity War and Endgame.
The Writers Strike Has Bought Marvel Some Time
There are very few upsides to the current labor battle happening in Hollywood between the Writers Guild and the major studios. But one silver lining is that the pause in productions has bought Marvel Studios some time to rearrange the deck chairs, and the Jeff Loveness removal might be the first step in a major behind-the-scenes shuffle. Last October, long before the strike affected the industry, Marvel already shook up its release schedule and pushed Avengers: Secret Wars to May 2026. Depending on how long the writers’ strike continues, we likely are going to see the MCU timeline get pushed back even further – on the film and television side – leading to the possibility of sweeping change regarding what stories we will see first.
Taking Loveness off of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (if that is happening) suggests to me that we won’t see that team-up film for some time, as the team appears prepared to head back to the drawing board.
The only Marvel movie currently set in stone is The Marvels, which was supposed to land in theaters in July until it pushed its release date back to November. For all intents and purposes, that movie is done, and shouldn’t be delayed. Everything after that, however – from Captain America: New World Order and Blade to the Deadpool/Wolverine team up movie – remains in limbo until the strike is worked out. These movies were in various forms of production, but all have been paused. That’s a nightmare for movies trying to make an announced release date, and I anticipate that the longer this strike lasts, the greater the chance that the MCU will shuffle its dates (maybe a few times), pushing the two announced Avengers movies even later on the studio’s release schedule.
The Kang Conundrum
So much of this ties back to Jonathan Majors, and the legal issues he currently faces. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but the court of public opinion doesn’t work that way, and the opinions regarding the actor continue to form while Marvel Studios waits. It’s clear that they are strategizing behind the scenes for every possible scenario. They would have to. And the rumor claiming that Jeff Loveness is no longer writing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has me believing that it’s also because the Kang that Loveness wrote for won’t be Kang much longer.
Marvel Studios has recast before. Multiple times. Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard for Iron Man 2. Mark Ruffalo became The Hulk instead of Ed Norton. Harrison Ford is about to take over the role of Thunderbolt Ross, following the passing of William Hurt. It will be weird, given how all-in Marvel went on establishing Majors as Kang. But it can happen.
Keeping Jeff Loveness for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty after he put so much work into establishing the character for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania made sense. Why start over with a new writer when you can just bring along the person who wrote for the character in the previous movie. Only, the previous movie didn’t do so well, and the actor is now in legal trouble. So if you replace the writer, doesn’t that almost sound like they are preparing to replace the actor at the same time?
The thing about Kang is that he lords over the Multiverse, and you can explain away how and why he looks different. He’s a variant, the same way John Krasinski’s Reed Richards won’t look exactly the same as whomever they cast as Reed for the Fantastic Four movie.
This could be the first small step that leads to some larger strides. We will continue to track the progress of the MCU moving forward.
