EXCLUSIVE: After a star-making turn in HBO’s hit series Lovecraft Country, Jonathan Majors is now ready to make his mark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a big way. Majors has been tapped for one of the lead roles in the next Ant-Man movie opposite Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily. The studio had no comment, but sources close to the project say he is likely to play the super-villain Kang the Conqueror.
Sources add that like with so many new characters in the MCU, there could be a twist with how the character is featured in future films, but as of now he is likely to be one of the main villains in the next installment in the franchise.
Peyton Reed, who directed the first films, returns to helm the latest installment, with Jeff Loveness penning the script. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige will produce.
Although its possible he could be used differently in the movie, in the comics, Kang is a time-traveling entity who had battles with everyone from Thor to Spider-Man to the entire Avengers team.
The summer of 2020 has been good to Majors both on the film and TV front. He began starring in Spike Lee’s epic war drama Da 5 Bloods, where he played one of the sons of the Army unit that ventures back to Vietnam in their search for their gold fortune and fallen squad leader. He followed that up with Lovecraft Country, created by Misha Greene and produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams. The series premiered in August and broke digital records for the network.
Prior to these projects, Majors received praise for his 2019 film The Last Black Man In San Francisco, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The movie marked Majors’ first leading role, for which he was nominated for a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and a Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.
Majors is starring in Netflix’s The Harder They Fall, where he plays outlaw Nat Love and is currently in production. He was also tapped to star in Black Label media’s Devotion.
Majors is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Jackoway Austen.