Avengers 5 Has a problem that a collection of unused designs for Kong the Conqueror would have solved if the MCU had made a slightly different choice. Before San Diego Comic Con 2024 officially changed its title to Avengers: DoomsdayThe fifth Avengers movie (and first in the multiverse saga) was titled Avengers: The Kong Dynasty and would have featured Kong the Conqueror – previously portrayed by Jonathan Majors – as its arch villain. A series of events in 2023 would, however, lead to Jonathan Majors’ arrest, conviction and firing from the MCU.
This was a significant issue for Marvel Studios, as Majors’ Kang and his variants had already debuted in Loki And Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. With Jonathan Majors’ departure, it quickly became clear that Marvel would have to recast the role. Although Marvel has yet to do so – suggesting that Kang could be quietly pushed into the MCU, it almost sidestepped the issue of recasting Kang with a plan for his cinematic debut that will ultimately go unused.
Many of Kang’s unused MCU designs would have made an actor recast easier
Kong the Conqueror’s face was almost completely covered
In March 2023, Marvel Entertainment shared a video by Youtube What delved into the process behind Kang the Conqueror’s plan in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniawhich was released one month earlier, in February.
In the video, Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park and Concept Artist Constantine Sekeris explain the process of developing Kong the Conqueror’s design. Although the studio would ultimately settle on a well-received look that remains faithful to Kang the Conqueror’s comic book design, several concepts have been shown that practically cover Kang’s entire face.
The studio opted for a design that would allow Jonathan Majors to show his full face and acting range by essentially covering his face with a translucent forcefield. That meant that Jonathan Majors’ total screen time was maximizedMaking his face inextricable from Kong the Conqueror in his most comically accurate form. If the studio instead opted for a design that obscured his face, however, it would have addressed the issues Marvel currently has with recasting Kong the Conqueror.
Kang’s other MCU mask designs could have changed the current issue with the Council of Kangs
The Council of Kings looked almost identical
One of the more baffling decisions that Marvel Studios made with Kong the Conqueror and his variants was deciding to make each of his variants practically identical. Even a lizard-faced Kang seen in the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Post-credits scene was portrayed by the actor, adding to a sea of Kong variants that all share Jonathan Majors’ appearance. By this point, the MCU has already established that variants can look wildly different, with the likes of alligator Loki exemplifying this to the fullest extent.
Kang and his variants became outliers in this regard when the Council of Kangs were revealed, showing that Kang, for some reason, seemingly looks identical no matter what universe he comes from. The behind-the-scenes look at the concept art makes this idea even more frustrating, as the studio sat on several designs that could have at least covered Kang’s face entirely, making recasting even a handful of variants easier for the studio. . Justify. Instead, any potential re-cast is now decidedly more conspicuous.
Kang’s Unused MCU Designs May Have Allowed Avengers 5 to Remain Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
Marvel may have struggled with re-casting Kong
It’s hard to say exactly why Marvel decided to spin out of Kong the Conqueror entirely for the first of its two climactic multiverse saga movies. The overwhelming performance of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania may have had a large role to play in the decision to shoot Doctor Doom instead. On the other hand, Marvel may have decided that the re-casting of Kong and two of his most famous variants – He Who Remains and Victor Timely – could be too complicated to justify the universe, despite having already recast several MCU roles up to this point.
If the latter is true, opting for a fully masked Kang may have swayed Marvel’s decision to shoot for. Avengers: Doomsday. Ironically, the studio is now facing the opposite problem, as it has cast its biggest star – Robert Downey Jr. – in a role that is inextricably tied to a full-face mask, raising questions about how the studio intends to capitalize on RDJ’s money – spinning image from behind it. Whatever the case, only time will tell how the studio intends to navigate this, and whether or not Kong the Conqueror will ever appear again in the MCU.
Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will bring together heroes, new and old, to face off against Victor von Doom – played by the returning Robert Downey Jr.. Avengers 5 will also mark the beginning of Phase 6 of The MCU.
- Release date
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May 1, 2026
- studio(s)
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Marvel Studios
Source: Marvel Entertainment/YouTube