The MCU is officially parting ways with Jonathan Majors.
Longtime fans of the franchise saw the writing on the wall months ago, of course, but it wasn’t until the 34-year-old star was found guilty of two charges that the franchise said goodbye. The former Kang actor now faces a maximum sentence of one-year in jail on the misdemeanor assault and harassment charges, and the MCU is faced with a massive hurdle. Its been building up to its next major saga for a bit now, and Kang the Conqueror has long been the lynchpin in the franchise’s plans.
But Kang the Conqueror just got fired, and the MCU has a Major problem on its hands (pun fully intended). The character several films and television shows have been setting up as the next major villain has been ousted, and the entire direction of the franchise now needs to be reexamined. Even if the big wigs at Marvel Studios manage to find a workaround, the inevitable gaps, plot holes, and weird coincidences created by Kang being in the franchise, then suddenly disappearing, will haunt the MCU for years.
Unless.
I have a pitch for you, Kevin Feige. Its a bit edgy, kind of dark, and certainly unexpected, but it could work. Not only could it see the franchise get rid of Kang for good, but it could manage the task without ever putting Majors back on screen. To top it off, it could also explain the numerous inconsistencies that will no doubt follow the shift to a new big bad, and help set up the franchise’s next big thing: The Young Avengers.
One Young Avenger holds the key to defeating Kang for good
If you’re a Young Avengers fan, you might know where I’m going with this. I’ve also written extensively about the team in the past, and I’ve been hounding the MCU to introduce them already for a good few years now, largely for the same reason: They’re what the franchise needs. They’re modern, interesting, and could serve as the vital change-up our floundering franchise so desperately requires.
They also hold the key to defeating Kang for good, and they don’t need to fight him to do it. Massive spoilers for the Young Avengers comics are to follow, so proceed with caution.
Okay, let’s get into it. The Young Avengers were formed, in comics, by an eager young man who goes by Iron Lad. He gathers up a few members, stumbles across several others, and ultimately succeeds in forming a fresh team of young, eager heroes.
Its not until later that Iron Lad’s true identity is revealed. The young man is actually a Kang variant, fled from a different timeline using Kang’s own technology. After discovering the many horrors he would someday commit, the young Kang sought any way to change his future. In the comic, he’s ultimately unsuccessful — largely because meddling in time never works out — and Kang remains an ever-present looming threat.
But what if the MCU took a different route? The team already has a different founder, as The Marvels laid out, but it could still pursue a similar storyline. It could see a young man join the team, eager to add his might to the blossoming squad, only to later have his identity revealed.
This gets me to the core of my pitch. Once Iron Lad is revealed as a young Kang, we have our climax — the revelation of what would have happened, had the MCU stuck with its Kang Dynasty plans. Whatever horrors that storyline may have contained, laid bare for the audience to see, and Iron Lad left with only one choice: In order to prevent that terrible future, he cannot exist. And so, he takes himself out of the equation.
Now, obviously, advocating for a teenager to sacrifice himself for the greater good is a bit grim, but it’s also kinda perfect. It would be harsh, and — if done well — tragic, but it would also be an Iron Man-level act. It would save his new friends from a grim future, and, in the process, it would wreak havoc on the timeline. That might seem like a bad thing — we’ve all seen those Endgame criticisms — but, in this very specific case, its not. Because, at the end of the day, the inevitable mess that Iron Lad’s sacrifice would prompt is exactly what the MCU needs.
The franchise will face a wave of hurdles over the coming years, as it faces down incomplete storylines, gap-filled setups, and projects that previously hinged on Majors. By not only ejecting Majors but also eliminating him from the franchise’s future, the MCU has a unique opportunity to lean into the skid, and blame it all on a teenager’s heroic act. It can explain away all those weird timelines, plot holes, and gaps by simply stating that Iron Lad screwed the timeline by unsubscribing from life. He was supposed to exist, but no longer does, and that’s why he persists as a weird stain on the franchise’s history.
Its a bit wild, and probably too brave for Marvel to take on, but I’d certainly watch it. It could delve into some grim territory, its true, but anyone who’s enjoyed a comic knows just how well some of them balance comedy and tragedy. This film could carry that same dichotomy to the big screen, and in the process solve the MCU’s Kang problem for good.