AT the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala over the weekend, actor Jonathan Majors shared his excitement about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Kang the Conqueror in the upcoming movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
The highly-anticipated movie will be out in February and acts as an integral part of Marvel’s Phase 5. Kang’s road leads to 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which will be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Speaking to Variety, Majors confirmed he and Cretton have already begun having conversations about the story arc, and explained why Cretton’s approach is so crucial.
Majors observed: “We’re dealing with myths: what is a ‘Kang’? What is a movie? You know, what is an MCU movie? What does that mean? What’s that look like?
“Those are the questions we are asking, but all of that works when it’s grounded and really, really really, tucked into the given circumstances of what’s going on between these people and what we can illuminate for ourselves as a species.”
Besides reprising his role as Kang the Conqueror, the actor is also in early talks to play Dennis Rodman in Lionsgate’s 48 Hours in Vegas, which is about the then-Chicago Bulls star’s infamous trip during the 1998 NBA Finals.
Speaking about Rodman’s character, Majors said: “His character as a man is one that is unbridled … And, selfishly, you want to play a role like that, because it’s gonna push you to that place.”
Majors was also honoured at the Newport Beach Film Festival with an Artist of Distinction award for his role in Devotion, in which he portrays elite fighter pilot Jesse Brown, the US Navy’s first African-American aviator.
Directed by J.D. Dillard, the film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been earning rave reviews.
“My brother, the president of NBFF pulled me aside and he’s been very complimentary about the film. He said that his father was in the Navy and that he loved that it was a true depiction of it,” Majors shared. “When I looked at his face, I felt that he meant it.”