The Marvel Cinematic Universe had a plan. A big one. After Thanos turned half the universe to dust with a snap of his fingers, Disney and Marvel Studios needed something—or someone—even more terrifying to anchor the next decade of storytelling. They found that anchor in Jonathan Majors. As the He Who Remains actor, Majors wasn't just playing a villain; he was the foundation for the entire Multiverse Saga.
It started with a quiet, quirky, and deeply unsettling debut in the Loki Season 1 finale. No giant purple aliens. No infinity stones. Just a man in a robe, eating an apple and explaining the end of time.
But things changed. Fast.
If you’ve followed the news at all over the last couple of years, you know that the story of the He Who Remains actor shifted from a meteoric rise to a complex legal and professional fallout. It’s a messy situation. Honestly, it’s one of the most significant "what ifs" in Hollywood history. We went from expecting a decade of Kang variants to a complete pivot toward Robert Downey Jr. returning as Doctor Doom.
The Performance That Changed Everything
When we first saw He Who Remains, it was a masterclass in subverting expectations. Fans expected a conqueror. Instead, they got a lonely, eccentric librarian of time. Jonathan Majors brought this frantic, lonely energy to the role that made you kind of like him, even though he was technically a multiversal dictator.
The brilliance of his casting was the range. Because the character was part of a "multiverse," the He Who Remains actor wasn't just playing one guy. He was playing an infinite number of versions of that guy. We saw this play out in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with Kang the Conqueror, a stoic and brutal warrior, and then again in Loki Season 2 with Victor Timely, a stuttering, awkward inventor from the 1800s.
It’s rare to see an actor get that kind of playground. Usually, you’re the hero or the villain. Majors was the hero, the villain, the nerd, and the god, all at once. Critics were obsessed. The industry was all-in. He was the "it" guy, fresh off Creed III and Magazine Dreams.
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The Legal Turning Point and Marvel’s Decision
Everything hit a wall in March 2023. Majors was arrested in New York City following a domestic dispute involving his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.
The details were grim. And public.
For months, the "He Who Remains actor" headline wasn't about the MCU; it was about court dates, leaked text messages, and a high-profile trial. In December 2023, a jury found Majors guilty of one count of reckless assault in the third degree and one count of harassment. He was acquitted of two other counts—intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree.
Within hours of the verdict, Disney fired him.
This wasn't just a PR headache. It was a structural disaster for Marvel. They had titled the next Avengers movie Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. They had spent years weaving his face into the fabric of every timeline. When they cut ties with the He Who Remains actor, they weren't just firing a lead; they were burning the map for their entire franchise.
Why Marvel Didn't Just Recast
People keep asking: "Why not just pull a Terrence Howard?"
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When Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as War Machine, the MCU barely blinked. When Mark Ruffalo took over for Edward Norton as the Hulk, fans moved on in a week. But Kang was different. The He Who Remains actor had already appeared as dozens of variants on screen. His face was the literal plot point.
Marvel had a few choices:
- Recast the role: Find another Black actor to play Kang and hope the audience didn't care.
- Write him out: Kill Kang off-screen or ignore the plot lines.
- Pivot entirely: Change the villain of the saga.
As we saw at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, they chose the nuclear option. They brought back the Russo Brothers and Robert Downey Jr., pivoting the focus to Doctor Doom. This effectively erased the "Kang Dynasty" and moved the goalposts toward Avengers: Doomsday.
The Ripple Effect on the Industry
The fallout for the He Who Remains actor didn't stop at Disney. His management company, Entertainment 360, dropped him. His PR firm, The Lede Company, did the same. The film Magazine Dreams, which had garnered massive Oscar buzz at Sundance, was pulled from the release schedule by Searchlight Pictures.
It serves as a stark reminder of how fast the "Total Talent" era can collapse. In the 90s, a scandal might simmer for years. Today, the distance between the top of the world and the "fired" list is a single verdict.
What’s interesting is the divide in the fanbase. You have one group that believes the art should be separated from the artist, arguing that Majors’ performance was too good to lose. Then you have the majority who agree that a brand as "family-friendly" as Disney simply cannot have a convicted actor as the face of their multi-billion dollar machine. There is no middle ground here. It’s a total fracture.
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Looking Back at the "Loki" Impact
Despite the controversy, the work Majors did in Loki remains some of the best acting in the MCU. Period.
The Season 2 finale of Loki actually provided a weirdly perfect exit, even if it wasn't intended to be one at the time. Loki taking the throne at the center of the temporal loom basically rendered the "He Who Remains" version of the character obsolete. Loki became the protector of the branches, the "God of Stories," effectively putting Kang in a box.
If you watch that finale now, it feels like a funeral for the original Multiverse plan. The He Who Remains actor’s final scenes were filled with this eerie, knowing smirk, as if the character knew his time was up—both in the story and in reality.
What’s Next for Jonathan Majors?
The actor is currently attempting a comeback through independent cinema. He was recently cast in the supernatural thriller Merciless, directed by Martin Villeneuve. It’s a much smaller stage. No capes. No $200 million budgets.
The industry is watching closely. Hollywood loves a redemption arc, but the nature of the charges makes this one significantly steeper than RDJ’s drug-related comeback in the early 2000s. Whether he can ever reclaim a fraction of the "He Who Remains" spotlight is a massive gamble.
Moving Forward: Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Collectors
If you're a fan of the MCU or a collector of the lore, the "Kang era" is now a weird, finite capsule of history. Here is how to navigate the current state of the franchise:
- Treat Kang as a Closed Chapter: Don't expect the "Council of Kangs" cliffhanger from Quantumania to ever get a satisfying onscreen resolution. Marvel is moving on. The "He Who Remains" storyline is effectively the "Legacy" timeline now.
- Watch for the Doctor Doom Shift: Keep an eye on The Fantastic Four: First Steps. This is where the narrative will likely "cleanse" the multiverse of Kang's influence to make room for Victor Von Doom.
- Physical Media Value: If you’re a collector, the Loki Season 1 and 2 physical releases are now historical artifacts of a cancelled vision. They represent a version of the MCU that no longer exists.
- Separate the Performance: It is okay to acknowledge that the He Who Remains actor gave a brilliant performance while also acknowledging the severity of the legal findings. Understanding that nuance is key to discussing film history.
The Multiverse Saga is still happening, but the architect has changed. We went from a man who remains at the end of time to a man in a metal mask who wants to rule it. The transition is jarring, but in the world of comic book movies, the only constant is change. The He Who Remains actor was a generational talent who hit a catastrophic personal and legal wall, and the debris from that crash will be felt in every Marvel movie for the next five years.
The MCU is pivoting to Doom, and the "He Who Remains" era is officially a ghost in the machine.