Director Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer expected to direct Marvel’s upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty project, creating even more uncertainty for the film’s future in light of star Jonathan Majors’ ongoing criminal domestic violence case.
Cretton — who was announced as the director in 2022 — is still reportedly working with Marvel on other projects, including a sequel for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and TV series Wonder Man, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was supposed to premiere in May 2025, but was pushed back to May 2026 after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
There’s also potential trouble around the film’s script. Jeff Loveness was tapped to write the screenplay but earlier this week, reports circled that he was also no longer involved in the project. Loveness wrote this year’s Antman and the Wasp Quantumania, which first introduced Kang, the ultimate multiverse villain with endless variants. (A representative for Loveness did not return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.)
Marvel was said to be so impressed with Majors’ performance as Kang — and looking to give the franchise a much-needed rejuvenation — that the studio planned to establish the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe around Kang and his variants, using the Disney+ spinoff series Loki to further set the stage for the upcoming movie.
But in late March, Majors was arrested in New York on domestic violence charges for allegedly hitting his then-girlfriend and pushing her into the side of a car during a fight that broke out over his cell phone. (Rolling Stone is not naming the woman because the Manhattan District Attorney’s office considers her a victim.) The case is now headed for trial on November 29, where Majors faces up to a year in jail if convicted on misdemeanor charges of assault and harassment. Majors denied the charges and claimed his ex-girlfriend attacked him.
In June, Rolling Stone reported that Majors physically and/or emotionally abused two previous romantic partners, according to a dozen sources who knew the women. Majors allegedly strangled one woman he was dating, and was mentally and emotionally abusive with her, nine of those sources claim. The second woman allegedly told friends that her relationship with Majors was “emotional torture.” Variety reported that some of Majors’ former romantic partners who were allegedly abused by him were cooperating with the DA’s case. (Majors denied that he was ever abusive in any relationships.)
The arrest and serious accusations were concerning to Marvel’s top brass, according to a Variety November cover story, and as recently as September, executives were having discussions as to what to do about Majors. Options reportedly floated involved recasting Majors or pivoting completely away from the Kang storyline, instead making Dr. Doom the next Marvel supervillain. It also comes at a time where Marvel — which once used to regularly dominate box offices — is pulling much lower box office numbers. Marvel’s latest release The Marvels made just $47 million in its opening weekend, making it the lowest-opening weekend for a film in the franchise.
