Jonathan Majors‘ recent legal troubles will not affect his role in Marvel Studios’ Loki season 2, which returns to Disney+ on Thursday, October 5.
Loki executive producer Kevin Wright confirmed that Majors’ scenes as both He Who Remains and Victor Timely were unchanged after the actor was arrested and charged with assault and harassment in March.
“No,” Wright told Variety when asked if the writers considered reducing Majors’ role after filming completed. “And that mainly came from — I know as much as you do at the moment. It felt hasty to do anything without knowing how all of this plays out.”
Majors has been set up as the next Marvel Cinematic Universe villain, appearing as different versions of his antagonist throughout the various movies and shows in the MCU. He was introduced as He Who Remains in Loki season 1 and returned as Kang the Conqueror in February’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Majors will appear as both He Who Remains and a new variant, Victor Timely, in season 2, but his future beyond that remains unknown amid his legal trouble.
While Marvel has announced that Avengers 5 will be titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, indicating that Majors’ character is the next major nemesis for the superheroes, fans have speculated about recasting and changing plots. Marvel famously uses reshoots after principal production ends to tweak and perfect films and shows, but Wright says Loki season 2 is the first Marvel Studios project to not utilize reshoots.
“This is the first Marvel series to never have any additional photography,” Wright told Variety in an interview published on Monday, October 2. “The story that is on screen is the story we set out to make. We went out there with a very specific idea of what we wanted this to be, and we found a way to tell it in that production period. It’s very much what’s on screen on Disney+.”
The actor’s campaign with the U.S. Army was immediately paused following his arrest. He was later dropped by talent manager Entertainment 360 and PR firm The Lede Company.
Majors was initially arrested in March after he was accused of assaulting a 30-year-old woman. “The victim sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition,” police said in a statement at the time. Majors denied any wrongdoing via his lawyer.
Three months later, Majors filed a countersuit against his alleged victim. He claimed in court documents obtained by Insider on June 26 that a “drunk and hysterical” woman caused him pain and made him bleed during the alleged March incident.
His next court date is scheduled for Thursday.
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you have experienced sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for confidential support.
