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Credit: Inside the MagicDespite being a central villain in Marvel’s hit Disney+ show, Loki, Kang the Conquerer was noticeably absent from the first Season 2 trailer amid the studios’ ongoing problem with Kang’s actor, Jonathan Majors.
It looks like trouble is brewing behind the scenes at Disney+ and Marvel, specifically concerning Season 2 of Loki.
Led by Marvel veteran Tom Hiddleston, who plays the titular God of Mischief, Loki arrived on Disney+ in 2021 to rave reviews from critics and fans. The spinoff series also stars Owen Wilson as TVA Agent Mobius M. Mobius, along with Sophia Di Martino, who plays Sylvie, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna, among others.
Credit: Marvel StudiosThe story finds Loki trapped in a mysterious bureaucracy—the Time Variance Authority—after using the Tesseract in his 2012 escape when the Avengers’ time heist went wrong in Avengers: Endgame (2019). After being imprisoned for his “crimes against the Sacred Timeline,” Mobius commissions Loki to help the TVA search for a dangerous Variant on the run, who might even beat Loki at his own game.
Of course, Loki wouldn’t be complete without a menacing villain. After years of fan speculation, Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror made his MCU debut as the conniving “He Who Remains,” a powerful Kang variant who oversaw the Sacred Timeline in his cosmic citadel.
Credit: Marvel StudiosUltimately, He Who Remains was killed by Sylvie in an impulsive act of revenge, shattering the timeline and catapulting the Multiverse into chaos. A different version of Kang also served as the primary antagonist in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), which teased the introduction of a new variant, Victor Timely, in the post-credits scene.
Kang is—or rather, was—primed and ready to become the next Thanos-level threat of Marvel’s Phase Five and Phase Six, which will culminate in two epic crossover events: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2026).
However, it looks like Disney and Marvel might have a change in plans following the ongoing controversy surrounding Majors. The actor made headlines in March after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in a reported domestic dispute. Since then, other victims have come out with similar accusations, leading to a new series of problems for Marvel.
And now, Kang’s fate in the franchise’s future has been made even more uncertain after he was reportedly not included in the first Loki Season 2 trailer, despite being the story’s central villain.
During Disney’s Upfront Presentation this week, Marvel Studios screened the first footage for the new season, According to Axios reporter Tim Baysinger. Marvel President Kevin Feige teased upcoming MCU shows like Secret Invasion and Echo but was careful to avoid namedropping Majors or Kang when previewing Loki.
Feige allegedly made no mention of Majors being in the show, nor did any of his variants, like Kang or Victor Timely, appear in the Loki season 2 trailer. Check out Baysinger’s report below:
Loki Season 2 trailer with nary a mention of Jonathan Majors, and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige didn’t even mention he was in the show pic.twitter.com/AwU54Xxyhq
— Tim Baysinger (@tim_bays) May 16, 2023
As of now, the official trailer for Loki Season 2 has yet to be made public. However, Marvel recently shared its Disney+ release date of October 6, meaning we can hopefully expect to see a teaser soon.
Neither Marvel nor Feige has commented on Majors’ arrest yet. However, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating that the studio has already recast Kang. Still, based on earlier reports, the studio has supposedly had “zero discussions” about replacing Majors, meaning it’s likely that Marvel is waiting to see how his case progresses before having any serious discussions.
Imagining a Loki Season 2—and the future of Phases Five and Six, at that—seems impossible with the character of Kang. And considering Loki Season 2 has long finished filming and has a release date, it doesn’t appear as though Marvel has any intention of altering the show.
Marvel can only skirt around its Kang issue for so long. If the actor is found guilty of the strangulation, harassment, and assault charges he’s facing, then the studio will have to reevaluate how to proceed. But until then, only time will tell how Loki Season will handle Majors’ involvement when it releases this fall.
What are your thoughts on Marvel not including Kang in the first Loki Season 2 trailer? Do you think Majors is done at the studio? Let us know in the comments below.