©Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Marvel Studios may rename, and drop the titular character from, its anticipated fifth Avengers film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, following the conviction of Jonathan Majors. The news comes after the actor was found guilty in December of assaulting his former girlfriend, and was subsequently fired from his role of Kang the Conqueror by the studio.
The Hollywood Reporter recently hinted that Avengers 5‘s title may be changed, due to Marvel Studios considering adapting a different Marvel Comics storyline for the Phase 6 movie. There are several other Avengers storylines that are prominent in Marvel Comics that are being considered to replace the Kang character in the MCU.
Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige first announced that the fourth Avengers sequel would focus on The Kang Dynasty during SDCC 2022. He also unveiled several other Phase 5 and 6 projects while at the convention, including the sixth Avengers film, Secret Wars.
In the aftermath of Majors’ departure from the next Avengers feature, Marvel Studios may rename it Secret Wars: Part One. But it’s expected that the studio will give the project a completely new name.
The fifth Avengers movie was originally going to be directed by Shang-Chi helmer Destin Daniel Cretton. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania scribe Jeff Loveness was set to write the next Avengers follow-up. However, after Majors was fired from the MCU, Cretton and Loveness also departed the project.
Loveness has since been replaced by Michael Waldron. However, Marvel Studios hasn’t announced if they have hired a director for the film.
The next installment in the popular Avengers series is expected to go in a different direction with the hiring of new filmmakers. The change in the fifth entry’s storyline also comes after the studio decided to minimize Kang’s character after his big screen introduction, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, underperformed at the box office.
Before considering completely writing Kang the Conqueror out of the MCU, Marvel Studios reportedly contemplated recasting the villain with Oscar-nominated Rustin star, Colman Domingo. The actor has commented on the rumors during an interview with Vanity Fair.
“I know what you’re going to ask. You’re going to talk about the MCU,” the Color Purple star said. “It’s funny how people are online talking about this. And the moment it started happening, literally, I think I was on my couch. And I was like, ‘What rumor? Who? Where’s this coming from?’ I just didn’t think about it. The next day I woke up, it’s everywhere.”
Domingo also confirmed there have been talks with Marvel Studios “for years” about him taking over the role of Kang. However, he didn’t confirm or deny whether he’ll take over the role from Majors.
“You know…My team has had conversations with Marvel about some aspect of the MCU for years. Do I know this to be true or not? I actually don’t know,” the actor said.
“I feel like my team doesn’t bring me something unless it’s real. So I don’t know. I could be in conversation, but I’m not sure. I would welcome a conversation around it,” Domingo continued.
“There’s hearsay, there’s conversations, but I’m not even sure because I feel like nothing comes to me until something’s real. But I’d be down with it,” the actor added.
The Kang Dynasty was originally expected to feature a new team of Avengers uniting together to battle Kang the Conqueror and his variants. But it’s currently unclear what direction Marvel Studios will move in next, including whether executives will cast Domingo to replace Majors. But previous reports have suggested that the character of Galactus may take over as the series’ next big villain.
Avengers 5 is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on May 1, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars is set to follow one year later, on May 7, 2027.
While Marvel Studios is determining what direction to bring the next Avengers movies in, the company is also focusing on it next projects. Those films include this summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine; the newly-cast The Fantastic Four, which will serve as the group’s introduction into Phase Six of the MCU; and the animated return of the eponymous mutants in X-Men ’97.