Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron explained why Jonathan Majors’ Kang isn’t in the film.
Fans already know that Marvel Studios’ WandaVision directly led into the events of the new film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Given that Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch is a prominent force in the film, that was to be expected. However, Loki also showcased the perils of the Multiverse, particularly in its season finale in which we see Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains. In that finale, his character teased that his variants are quite threatening, which is a reference to Kang the Conqueror, who will be seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Given the fact that the Multiverse was unleashed in the season finale of Loki, some expected for there to be more of a direct link with that series to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Well, beyond the titular Multiverse itself, Jonathan Majors does not appear in the film as Kang the Conqueror, and screenwriter Michael Waldron had an understandable explanation as to why that’s the case. He tells Deadline’s Hero Nation Podcast the following:
“To me, it felt like we had the biggest, best bullet already, in Wanda. That when working with Sam, when it was like we should really make the decisions to make Wanda the antagonist of this film. It was exciting and part of that was the feeling of ‘geez, we can’t let another movie go have that fun.’ It because she is going to be so great. And I think that if you had introduced Kang, as great as Jonathan Majors is, and as great as he is going to be playing that character, you would have risked the movie just getting maybe over-stuffed.”
Ultimately, focusing on Wanda rather than adding more appearances from the likes of Jonathan Majors’ Kang was a better fit for the overall story of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. For a film that many fans expected to be near-Avengers level in its scale, it’s refreshingly more grounded than one would expect, which is better for the characters’ arcs.
Jonathan Majors will make his big screen debut as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Meanwhile, here is the synopsis for The Multiverse of Madness:
The MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
Directed by Sam Raimi from a script written by Michael Waldron, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stuhlbarg, Rachel McAdams, and Patrick Stewart.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the film, as well as the future of Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror,, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Deadline (via comicbookmovie.com)
