With Majors Fired and Avengers 5 in Jeopardy, Will RDJ Return to the MCU to Save It?

Summary

• After a court found Jonathan Majors guilty, Disney officially fired the actor.
• This puts the MCU in an uneasy position, as Phase 5 and part of Phase 6 were centered around Kang.
• However, rumors indicate that an Iron Man movie may be in development.

Back in March 2023, when the domestic violence allegations and subsequent arrest of Jonathan Majors became public, the actor's management and public relations firms immediately dropped him as a client. The public was also outraged, as despite the presumption of innocence and Majors' stubborn denial of the allegations, the facts were out in the open. The only one who hesitated about what to do with the actor was Disney, who until recently pulled the plug on his firing.

This only further enraged the fans. Yes, Majors is undeniably a talented actor, and his Kang was well liked by many in Loki. However, an abuser and harasser has no place in such influential pop culture properties. The only thing that kept Disney from firing him was a desperate confusion about where the MCU story should go in this case, since the entire Phase 5 was specifically focused on Kang. But rumors swirling around the Internet suggest that the company may still have an ace up its sleeve to salvage the situation: Iron Man!

Disney Has Finally Done It: Jonathan Majors Is Officially Out

On December 8, text messages between Majors and his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, who he left with several serious injuries, were presented in court in which he manipulated her into not reporting the physical abuse to the hospital. Ten days later, on Monday, December 18, the six-member jury found the Marvel star guilty of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment. The verdict won't be announced until February 6, but Majors could very well face a year in jail.

On the same day, Disney officially fired the actor. However, that didn't solve their problems regarding the way forward for the MCU, as Majors was supposed to be the main villain of the entire Phase 5 and moving into Phase 6 with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which is still scheduled for release in May 2026.

Iron Man Could Be a Saving Grace. But Is That Really the Case?

That leaves Disney and Marvel Studios, led by Kevin Feige, to figure out how to save the day and keep their release schedules on track. Of course, there are plenty of movies in the MCU without Majors himself, but if there's no replacement for Kang, entire scripts will have to be rewritten.

Surprisingly, Iron Man 4 might be the way out. Yes, the story of Robert Downey Jr. 's Tony Stark ended with the Endgame finale, but is it rare for Marvel to resurrect its favorite characters? After all, we'll see Hugh Jackman back as Wolverine in Deadpool 3, even though the Logan movie was supposed to be Jackman's last in the role.

Not long ago, a remarkable poster surfaced on the Internet showing Stark on the throne in his Endgame costume. However, this 'promo' should be taken with a grain of salt, as it is most likely fan art or even AI.

After all, both Feige and the Russo brothers recently noted in Downey Jr.'s profile for Vanity Fair that they simply did not have the moral right to bring Iron Man back.

'We'd already said tearful goodbyes on the last day of shooting. Everybody had moved on emotionally. We promised him [Downey Jr.] it would be the last time we made him do it—ever,' Joe Russo said.

In other words, it's unlikely that RDJ will return to the role, but never say never! As for Iron Man's legacy, Disney+ has an upcoming Ironheart miniseries about brilliant MIT student Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne ), who creates a similar super armor.

As for Kang, Disney has yet to decide whether to recast him or write him out of the story altogether.

Source: Vanity Fair.