Thursday’s episode of Loki happens to demasculate Kang in a big way, and on Friday, Disney has announced it has yanked Jonathan Majors’ movie, Magazine Dreams, off the release schedule.
There has also been question if Avengers: The Kangy Dynasty will be canceled.
Jonathan Majors was arrested back in March for allegedly physically assaulting his girlfriend. The trial is set to start on November 29. Majors has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Magazine Dreams yanked from release schedule
In a pair of setbacks, Majors and his team attempted to get the charges dismissed, but a NY judge rejected the defense’s motion.
His girlfriend at the time, Grace Jabbari, was also arrested for misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief but the NYC prosecutor has revealed they won’t be pursuing charges noting, “The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has officially declined to prosecute the case against Grace Jabbari because it lacks prosecutorial merit. The matter is now closed and sealed.”
So as the Jonathan Majors trial starts on November 29 and due to all the controversy and legal issues, Disney has decided to remove the December 8 release date of Magazine Dreams, about a Black amateur bodybuilder (Majors) struggling to find human connection in this exploration of celebrity and violence. No new release date has been announced.
Biggest threat the MCU has ever faced?
Regarding Kang, as I went over in my review for this week’s episode, well, to put it bluntly, Kang is now a b—-.
Loki Season 1 introduced Jonathan Majors as Kang to the MCU. Majors next starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania where official notes from Marvel describe Kang as the next big bad following Thanos as an “Avengers-level threat,” “the next major villain of the MCU” and “quite possibly the biggest threat the MCU has ever encountered.”
However, Loki Season 2 takes a big step back.
Last week’s episode saw the big reveal that Miss Minutes has been keeping a secret from Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer.
This week’s episode reveals the secret (so, SPOILER warning).
Ravonna is quite the Marvel
Flashback footage shown to Ravonna by Miss Minutes shows Ravonna with He Who Remains in the past following the Multiversal War where He Who Remains defeated all the Kang Variants and created the Sacred Timeline.
“Ravonna Renslayer, you are quite a Marvel,” says He Who Remains. “I will be proud to lead with you.”
He continues, “You made a difference in this war. Thank you for being on my team.”
She heads back to the TVA and replies, “The TVA awaits our commands. Shall we go?”
“I’ll catch up,” says He Who Remains. “It’s been a long road. See you soon… Always.”
He Who Remains then instructs Miss Minutes to wipe her mind.
“Pull up Protocol 42. Erase her memories,” he says.
Miss Minutes asks if he is sure, and He Who Remains says to “erase all of their memories.”
“I’m sorry,” says He Who Remains.
The footage shifts back to the present day.
“I was here… I helped win,” questions the distraught Ravonna.
Miss Minutes replies that Ravonna actually won the Multiverse War and did all the work.
“You didn’t just help. It was you who commanded the army,” explains Miss Minutes.
Ravonna replies, “So he built this little tower, and while he sat on his throne, I continued to do all the work to keep him there?”
Miss Minutes confirms, “Well, something like that.”
Ravonna questions, “So what are you proposing?”
Miss Minutes replies, “That we don’t need him. Maybe we never did.”
They don’t need Kang
So Loki Season 2 reveals He Who Remains just sat on his keister and didn’t do a darn thing while Ravonna won the Multiverse War. Ravonna is then supposed to co-lead with He Who Remains, but he screws her over.
Interestingly enough, the plot of the upcoming Fantastic Four movie is similar. Leaks offer the movie is all about Sue Storm who feels her husband, Reed Richards, has been holding her back.
I also find it interesting that the Loki episode airs right before the release of The Marvels, and the episode refers to Ravonna as a “Marvel.” It’s known Monica Rambeau is also being referred to as “Captain” in The Marvels, with of course Brie Larson playing Captain Marvel, and Iman Vellani playing Ms. Marvel. So now there are four “Marvels.”
I’ll play devil’s advocate and offer that Miss Minutes could simply be lying to Ravonna and/or stretching the truth in order to manipulate Ravonna, but fitting with Kevin Feige’s approach to Captain Marvel, Phase 4 and beyond, it’s likely Feige and Marvel went out of their way to demasculate Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains and make the Loki series all about girl power. There’s nothing wrong with girl power, but as seen in this example and many others, it comes at the expense of making men look bad, which they often do (Disney Star Wars, etc.). And it comes at the expense of the MCU’s supposed next big villain.
It should be said this is another instance where the character of Kang comes off as looking pretty weak and worthless. So we have He Who Remains who didn’t fight the Multiverse War (he let a woman do the fighting for him! oh, no!). We have Kang the Conqueror in one of the worst movies in the MCU, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, getting beat by ants. Loki Season 2 also features Jonathan Majors as Victor Lively, a man from the past who is slow and who stutters, and who comes across as a dufus and who fails. Will the real Kang please stand up?
Compare how the MCU is treating Kang – “quite possibly the biggest threat the MCU has ever encountered” – to how Thanos was treated in Phases 1-3. There’s no comparison.
(Editor’s note: Jeremy from The Quartering does not have permission to use this article)
