Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York and accused of violence: now his career is hanging by a thread. What will happen to Marvel’s Kang?
FILM INFORMATION
Like a bolt from the blue, in the night between 25 and 26 March Jonathan Majors was arrested by the American police. The actor, best known for his role of Kang the Conqueror in the MCU and for that of Damian Anderson in the franchise of Creed, was taken into New York City law enforcement custody after what appears to have been an argument with a woman in her 30s. It seems that the girl has informed the authorities of being attacked by Jonathan Majors, on whose head several charges now hang, including those for assault and harassment. The question, of course, was immediately linked to the role that the actor has in the franchise spin-off of Rocky and, above all, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: so many are wondering what will become of Kang the Conqueror now that Jonathan Majors’ criminal record could be stained with two violent crimes. Before looking at the prospects for Majors’ career, however, let’s analyze the events that led to his arrest.
Where do the accusations against Jonathan Majors come from?
According to a reliable source such as Deadline, which in turn reports official NYPD documents, it seems that Majors had a domestic dispute with a 30-year-old woman, probably his girlfriend, between March 25 and 26. According to the tabloid, the quarrel would have arisen when one of the two, perhaps Majors himself, would have tried to end the relationship. After the 911 call, the girl allegedly informed the police who rushed to the scene of being attacked by the actor, who immediately surrendered without resistance. Official sources report that the woman “he had small wounds on his head and neck” and was taken in stable condition for tests at a local hospital. Immediately, Majors’ attorneys clarified that theactor was innocent and had evidence in support of his thesis. Indeed, with an official press release, the Hollywood star’s legal office explained that “can’t wait to clear his name and fix this situation“. An extremely courageous line of defense, especially if we consider that, shortly after his arrest, the actor was formally charged with assault, molestation and strangulation by the judicial authorities of New York.
Why was Majors’ defense so confident that they could prevail on the woman, who had emerged early in the investigation as the victim of the dispute? It seems that the actor had some clear evidence exonerating him and which, once shown in front of the court, would lead the girl to drop all charges against her. Majors’ attorney, Priya Chaudhry, explained to Deadline that “Jonathan Majors is completely innocent, and we can prove he was the victim of an altercation with a woman he knows“. In other words, the performer of Kang in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would actually be the victim, and not the aggressor, in the quarrel which later led to his arrest. What tests are we talking about? Again Chaudhry explained that it would be a video and some audio shot in the vehicle where the discussion began, in which Majors and the girl were in the company of a driver and, perhaps, other people. Plus, there would be two written statements from the girlboth in the form of a message sent to the plaintiff, in which the latter “retracted its allegations“: such evidence was reported in the form of screenshots from the Daily Mail, and you can find them among the images accompanying this article. Precisely these documents seem to have given Majors’ defense the security for affirm the plaintiff’s complete innocencealso adding that “we expect the charges to be dropped soon“.
What’s more, one emerges from the messages and testimonies reported by the Marvel actor’s lawyers truth other than that ascertained by the police of New York at the time of the actor’s arrest. Majors’ legal team, for example, explained that “unfortunately, the accident happened because the woman was going through a deep emotional crisis“, which according to the tabloids was due to end of her relationship with Jonathan Majors. Because of this emotional crisis, the woman “she was taken to the hospital on 25 March“, after calling 911 and reporting the actor.
According to gossips, behind the woman’s move there would have been an outburst of anger or, even worse, the precise will to scuttle the ex-boyfriend’s career on the big screen with a “stain” which, even once removed from his criminal record, would still have remained to stain his figure as a star. It is difficult to say whether the events that led to the arrest of Kang’s interpreter had been planned or not, but from the messages sent by the woman and published in the press, sentences such as “i told them it was all my fault“, and again, referring to the NYPD: “I have been assured that you will not receive any formal charges. They said they had to arrest you per protocol when they saw I had injuries and they knew we had a fight.“
What will Marvel and Disney do now?
From what emerges, therefore, Majors could be cleared soon and avoid any type of trial against him, which, beyond a legal conclusion most likely already written and favorable to the actor, could still seriously damage his reputation (and career). However, for the moment there is no certainty that this will be the case. It appears that the actor’s lawyers are seeking a plea deal with the woman who denounced him, despite the fact that she herself reiterated that her accusations were unfounded: it is certainly an attempt to settle the matter out of court, in order to avoid a trial that will necessarily bring negative attention to the star of Marvel-Disney house. However, to many a plea deal might seem like a partial admission of guilt, a way to avoid a judgment that could be much more “open” than it currently appears, perhaps due to the possible appearance of new evidence against Majors. Indeed, already there would be gods tweets by director AB Allen suggesting that Jonathan Majors would engage in violent behavior on set in his presence. In short, if on the one hand it is plausible that the “case” that has opened in recent days is close quickly and painlessly for the actor’s criminal record, it is by no means certain that he does not have long-term consequences on his fame.
For this very reason, the Sword of Damocles from Disney and Marvel still seems to lean on Majors: we know that Disney has a very strict policy regarding its collaborations with names of the showbiz in legal and personal trouble, as evidenced, for example, by the dismissal given to Johnny Depp by Disney while the process that saw him clash with Amber Heard was still in progress (and from which Depp then came out “clean”) and the departure of James Gunn in 2018 for very old tweets of the director.
In other words, Disney, to “save face”, could still proceed, even net of a definitive lightning-fast acquittal, to pull Jonathan Majors away from his roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, this would also mean imposing a recasting of the principal villains of the MCU in Phase 5 has just begun, just as Kang the Conqueror has begun to appear on the big screen. For coherence with what was done with Johnny Depp and to avoid any possible future criticism, definitely Disney could fire Majors in the next days. On the other hand, however, the Mickey Mouse company could also make an “exception to the rule”, obviously for purely business-related reasons, and wait for the end of the trial (or any developments in the rumors about the actor’s violent attitudes) before to decide whether to kick him out or not.
Many have rightly compared the “Majors case”, as well as with what happened to Johnny Depp, also with Ezra Miller’s troubles with the DCEU. The two stories have different points of contact: in both cases we are talking about very important actors for their cinematic universes of reference, both closely implicated in the future of the MCU and the DCU. In addition, both Majors and Ezra Miller have been accused of violent crimes and both could be able to save themselves, both legally and professionally, with some negotiations conducted with the alleged victims of their actions. Of course, there is a big distinction to be made: Ezra Miller has been guilty of a series of very serious, almost obvious and repeated crimes, among which we find theft, trespassing, harassment and violence; Jonathan Majors, on the other hand, has a criminal record which, until before March 25, was untouched (at least as far as we know). Not only: Ezra Miller has some psychological problems diagnosed, which seems to have guided their behavior in recent years; Jonathan Majors, on the other hand, does not seem to suffer from any such ailment. And most importantly, no one has ever retracted their testimony about Ezra Miller, exonerating him: Majors is in a much better position, both in legal terms and in terms of public opinion, compared to the DC star. That these factors are able to avoid the “hatchet” of Disney?