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Credit: Marvel StudiosFollowing reports that surfaced just a month ago, The Walt Disney Company has confirmed that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is officially out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
It’s a troubling time for Marvel Studios. Along with the rest of The Walt Disney Company, the always reliable content has suffered a quality blow in the last few years, leaving the franchise struggling for air against other movie studios. At one time, MCU movies were the event of the year, with fans coming in droves to get the next piece of the interconnected action. But in 2023, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Aside from James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), Marvel Studios released its two worst-reviewed and worst-performing MCU movies of all time. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) opened Phase Five to dismal reviews and a poor box office. Even with the main introduction of Kang the Conqueror–the character Jonathan Majors debuted in Loki, albeit here as Variant He Who Remains–and the ever-popular Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man), Peyton Reed’s movie failed to impress.
Later came The Marvels (2023), and Nia DaCosta’s team-up effort left no impression at the box office, where it officially became the lowest-grossing MCU movie of all time. But content and commercial performance haven’t been the only hurdle in the once-untouchable Marvel machine.
In March last year, shortly after his turn as Kang the Conqueror in the MCU and as Damian Anderson in Creed III (2023), Jonathan Majors was arrested in New York City on domestic assault charges. After months of litigation, the case regarding Majors’s actions against his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari ended in a guilty verdict of one count of reckless assault in the third degree and an additional charge of harassment as a violation. Sentencing has since been postponed from February 2024 to April 2024 while Majors’ attorneys, including Priya Chaudhry, filed numerous motions. Marvel dropped the actor on December 18, 2023, following the guilty verdict.
Upon his arrest, fans wondered whether Majors would continue on as Kang in the MCU and still appear in the previously announced Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2026). After all, Kang the Conqueror was tapped to be the new Big Bad of the MCU, taking over from Josh Brolin’s Thanos, who was the main antagonist of Phases One through Three. There was no confirmation regarding the fate of Majors in the live-action Marvel Universe, but the actor did appear in the already-filmed Loki Season 2 as another Kang Variant, Victor Timely.
However, it has now been confirmed by The Walt Disney Company that the reports of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty being renamed are, in fact, true. In Disney’s latest shareholders presentation, dated March 2024 and viewed here, it can be seen that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has been wiped, leaving simply Avengers 5 in its place.
This comes almost a month after The Hollywood Reporter shared that a renaming of the project had happened, although sources had claimed that it was already a factor following Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s poor performance and not simply rooted in the Jonathan Majors lawsuit. Notably, Avengers: Secret Wars (2027) is still on the slate with its original name. Sources had also said that Marvel was internally referring to the film as Avengers 5 at the end of last year (via THR), but this is the first time Disney has it in black and white.
Avengers 5 is to be written by Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) writer Michael Waldron after Ant-Man 3 writer Jeff Loveness exited the project. Waldron will also pen the script for Avengers: Secret Wars.
It’s not clear what direction Marvel Studios and Disney will go in with its upcoming Avengers films. There were hints in The Marvels, with Kamala Khan’s (Iman Vellani) recruiting of Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and the arrival of Fox’s X-Men characters, that suggest a major shift is about to happen in the franchise. There was also the insertion of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki as the new He Who Remains–a character who allows infinite Multiverse possibilities to exist concurrently.
Then there’s the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which sees Ryan Reynolds’ Merc With a Mouth become “Marvel Jesus” and save the timeline alongside Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.
Kevin Feige needs a big win for his franchise, and with nothing on the slate this year but the R-rated third Deadpool movie, can Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reignite the MCU? Disney Chief Executive Offer Bob Iger has been pretty blunt with his comments regarding the Marvel franchise. Last year, the CEO said that Marvel should be bringing new characters to the table and not making so many sequels. Then, just earlier this month, Iger revealed he does not believe in superhero fatigue and that if good movies are made, the people will come.
Related: Marvel Projects To Be Completely Scrapped on Disney+, Report Claims
Next up for Marvel will be Beau De Mayo’s X-Men ’97 animated series on Disney+. Mayo was fired from Marvel earlier this week for reasons unknown, but it is alarmingly unusual for the creator of an upcoming show to depart so close to release.
There has definitely been some maneuvering behind the scenes, and only time will tell if less will be more for the MCU to win again.
What direction do you think Marvel will take Avengers 5? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!