Not long after the premiere of HBO's supernatural drama series Lovecraft Country, news has arrived that Jonathan Majors is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the next Ant-Man film.
Deadline reports that Majors, who has also earned acclaim for his roles in The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Da 5 Bloods, has joined the cast of the 2022 film. Sources close to Marvel Studios indicate he will star as iconic villain Kang the Conqueror opposite Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily. Peyton Reed, the director of the first two Ant-Man films, is also expected to return for the third entry in the franchise. Jeff Loveness, who has written for Rick and Morty and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is penning the script.
Kang the Conqueror is a long-running baddie created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first making his comics introduction in the '60s. Despite appearances in numerous animated series, Kang has yet to be portrayed by an actor in a live-action production. The time-traveling villain has battled with everyone from Spider-Man to the Avengers as a unit, and judging from what sources close to the next Ant-Man have indicated, Majors could portray the role in future MCU films, too. Sources claim that there might be a "twist" to how Kang shows up in the MCU following his Ant-Man 3 appearance.
His MCU debut isn't the only project Majors has on the horizon, as he landed the lead role in the Netflix western The Harder They Fall, directed by Jeymes Samuel. He will co-star alongside Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield, and Regina King among others. The Harder They Fall started filming this September after production was delayed on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
Listen to Majors' recent appearance on Complex's Watch Less podcast:
