John Boyega Seemingly Has No Interest In Replacing Jonathan Majors As Marvel's New Kang
Actor Jonathan Majors was recently found guilty of harassment and assault in the third degree. As a result, he was fired by Marvel Studios, losing the role of Kang the Conqueror, a supervillain he had already played in 2023's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." The conceit of Kang the Conqueror was that he was able to travel between timelines and dimensions, consorting with alternate versions of himself to exercise his wicked schemes, so Majors was poised to play multiple versions of Kang. He also appeared in the TV series "Loki" as Kang alternates, and was presumably going to be the central villain in the planned 2026 crossover film "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty." With Majors' verdict and firing, the role of Kang will be recast or merely written out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Reportedly, the title of "The Kang Dynasty" has been altered on Marvel's memos to merely be "Avengers 5," presumably until a new storyline can be settled upon. Majors faces at least one year in prison.
Naturally, other high-profile actors have already been asked if they would want to step into the role of Kang. Marvel has recast characters in the past (Colonel "War Machine" Rhodes was played by Terrence Howard in "Iron Man," but replaced by Don Cheadle for multiple sequels), so recasting Kang may not be as dramatic as it looks on the surface.
Fans of actor John Boyega, the star of "Star Wars," "They Cloned Tyrone," and Steve McQueen's "Small Axe" film "Red, White and Blue," have asked the actor if he would be interested in playing Kang. On his Twitter account, Boyega posted a .gif confirming that he was not at all interested.
This is unsurprising, given Boyega's frequent and open rejection of major Hollywood franchises.
Boyega intends to focus on indie films
The .gif in question, by the way, is an image of Donkey from the movie "Shrek" shaking its head in the negative.
Boyega's rejection of franchise jobs in a matter of record. This is, after all, the man who was once asked if he'd be interested in reprising his "Star Wars" role Finn on the small screen, and replied by saying "You ain't gonna Disney+ me." He knew Disney's tendency to give supporting "Star Wars" characters their own TV shows on their streaming service Disney+, and wanted to ensure his disinterest was known. Boyega also expressed extreme relief in not having to appear in "Star Wars" movies anymore, saying that he was happy to go back to being a fan of the series and not worry about being the franchise's face (although he seemingly didn't want to burn any bridges, saying that there are certain circumstances that would bring him back to "Star Wars").
Boyega has, however, rejected working in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film before. In 2022, he spoke to Men's Health about rumors that he might appear in the then-upcoming feature film "The Marvels." He rejected the idea outright, saying:
"That's not in the vision for me now. [...] I want to do nuanced things ... I want to donate my services to original indie films that come with new, fresh ideas, because I know it's real hard to top 'Iron Man' in that universe."
Boyega seems to long for more creativity and fewer franchises.
Being swept up in the Marvel machine is, it seems, time-consuming and demanding. If Kang is to remain a part of the MCU, then Boyega would have to commit to multiple pictures over the next three, four, five years. One can understand his disinterest.