Even though we’re just starting to see Jonathan Majors’ full potential within the Marvel Cinematic Universe – especially with his re-introduction as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – the actor has been on Marvel Studios’ radar for quite some time. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Marvel boss Kevin Feige revealed which movie was the one that made a huge difference when they were considering casting Majors, and also talked about how the actor’s early performances completely blew the Marvel team away.
In the interview, Feige cites The Last Black Man in San Francisco as a “huge” reason why he and his team decided to cast Majors as He Who Remains for Loki, and revealed that Ant-Man franchise director Peyton Reed was an advocate for Majors’ talent from the start. The team already knew that Majors’ role in the MCU would be big, but what did it for them was the overwhelming reaction that the actor got from early test screenings:
“For years, we've always had the inkling that Kang would be an amazing follow-up to Thanos. He's got that equal stature in the comics, but he's a completely different villain. Mainly, that's because he's multiple villains. He's so unique from Thanos, which we really liked. And in the early days of ‘Quantumania’ [test audiences], Jonathan started to pop in a big way. He's the highest-testing villain we've ever had in any of our friends and families [screenings]. That's really saying something with a movie like this. Even early on without the effects, Jonathan is his own effect. He was working from the start. It's always one of the fun rolls of the dice that we do at Marvel, which is to say: ‘Hey, we're going to make multiple movies around this character, and we're going to start before the audience has even had a chance to meet him.’ We really go all in on these ideas and this casting. [...] People really seem to be on board for Kang.”
Jonathan Majors: He Who Will Remain (At Least) Until 2025
It’s true. Majors has the rare experience of seeing fans react passionately to a role even before they got the chance to see it on screen. Of course, the fact that the actor played He Who Remains by the end of Loki Season 1 helped Marvel fans get excited about the character’s future. Now, with one of his most dangerous versions revealed in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we’ll be able to see just how dangerous a threat Kang poses and how his bigger role in Phase 5 and 6 will play out.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a 2019 drama that was met with immense critical acclaim, especially in the independent movie scene. In it, Majors played the best friend and roommate of Jimmie Fails, a man who’s obsessed about getting to live once again in the old house he grew up in with his father and grandfather.
You can watch a trailer for The Last Black Man in San Francisco below: