With the news of Jonathan Majors‘ recent arrest for violent behavior and rumors that he was horrifically abusive and cruel on set, it’s not exactly surprising that his role as supervillain Kang the Conquerer is set to be recast. As one of the most important (and powerful) villains in all of the MCU, the character was sure to continue to play a massive part in future films, and while all legal cases should be held to a standard of innocent until proven guilty, the evidence and unease around Majors means Marvel will likely have to drop him soon.
While the sensitive and scary nature of what Majors is accused of, it isn’t exactly the most fun thing to discuss. Fans have been using the chance to focus on the positives of the situation, namely that there’s an opportunity to recast Kang, and an early frontrunner for the role (in the minds of the MCU fandom, at least) is none other than Star Wars actor and fellow John, John Boyega.
Boyega certainly has the chops, looks, and experience to take on a role like Kang. The Brit became famous in his homeland for his performance in the critically acclaimed alien horror-comedy Attack the Block, as well as his turn in the stunning adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s beautiful novel about the Nigerian Civil War, Half of a Yellow Sun. He hit the international big time when he was cast as Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where he was praised in a film that was seen as a brilliant bounce-back from the much maligned prequels of the early 2000s. This is all to say he has experience in a range of roles across various sci-fi projects, albeit mostly as a good guy. Boyega has also had a lot of positive news recently thanks to his turn in The Woman King, where he showed off even more facets of his brilliant acting skills — including the ability to be as terrifyingly magnetic as a character like Kang needs to be.
With that all said, he’s not the only person the internet seems keen to force into the role. Names like Oshea Jackson Jr and Damson Idris have also been mentioned, both of whom, like Boyega and Majors, are Black men in their early thirties. But there’s no doubt that Boyega has more star power compared to the other two, even though Idris has been receiving critical acclaim for his incredible performances in the TV drama Snowfall.
Boyega is also ready to take on a franchise role, especially one that would continue to underline the importance of having Black actors take on big parts. This is something the actor seems to care deeply about, having been unceremoniously sidelined by Disney and Lucasfilm in what Boyega considered a complete lack of care for diversity. He also believed that Disney didn’t just ignore his character, but in some cases were actively hostile. He went into depth about this in an interview with GQ:
“What I say to Disney is do not market a black character as important and then push them aside…like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver. You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know fuck all. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience…’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience. They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let’s be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything.”
So, there’s every chance that he’d be keen to take on the role that Majors formerly held.
Despite Boyega’s interest in diversity, and the MCU’s commitment to it, some fans have raised the prospect of taking Kang in a completely new direction. The character’s appearance has changed multiple times in the comics (which makes sense, considering how long he’s been an important part of Marvel lore), which means that he could in effect be played by almost anyone, although, as the king of CGI acting Andy Serkis has shown, a lot of talent is still needed to play characters whose appearance is determined entirely by green screens and computers.
For now, all we have to go on is rumor. And even whispers as loud as the ones about Boyega taking on the role can’t always be trusted, so fans eager to discover who might play Kang will just have to wait.