Jonathan Majors on Robert Downey Jr.’s Marvel Return as Doctor Doom

Jonathan Majors was fired from Marvel Studios in light of his assault trial, meaning that he would no longer play Kang the Conquerer in the franchise.

Majors’ Kang was originally set to be the next big-bad in the MCU. The mantle has now been bestowed on Robert Downey Jr. in the role of Doctor Doom.

“[I’m] heartbroken, of course,” Majors, 34, told TMZ on Wednesday, July 31. “I love Kang. Doctor Doom is wicked, though.”

He continued, “I think it’s fair that Mr. Downey is being and has been greeted with patience and curiosity and love … and [he’s] being allowed to work [his] art and be creative at that level. I didn’t really get that.”

Downey, 59, was previously arrested in 1996 for drug charges and sentenced to three years of probation. After getting sober, Downey was eventually cast by Marvel as Tony Stark/Iron Man in 2008.

Majors, meanwhile, made his Marvel debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantamania and Disney+’s first season of Loki. He was dropped by the film studio in 2023 following his arrest for assault. Majors’ ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari accused the actor of physical abuse in March 2023, claims he vehemently denied at the time.

In a December 2023 trial, a jury found Majors guilty of assault in the third degree and harassment. He was sentenced to a 52-week, in-person domestic violence program.

Downey, meanwhile, was announced as the new MCU villain at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend.

“As proof of the unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multiverse, we give you the one person who could play Victor Von Doom,” Joe Russo said during a Saturday, July 27, panel, revealing that Downey’s character will headline Avengers: Doomsday.

Downey, who quipped that he enjoys playing “complicated characters,” previously played Tony Stark/Iron Man until Avengers: Endgame. He was one of the few characters to die at the end of the film.

The casting news shocked several members of the MCU.

“I had no idea. This son of a bitch didn’t say anything to me, and we’re good friends,” Jeremy Renner, who portrayed Hawkeye in various films and a Disney+ series of the same name, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this week. “I started blowing up [Downey’s] phone [in our cast group chat]. I’m like, ‘What’s going on? Are you hiding this from us? That’s exciting news, man.’ I’m really, really excited about it.”

Avengers: Doomsday is slated for release in May 2026.