We caught up with the actor in West Hollywood Tuesday, where he explained why the RDJ Dr. Doom news was bittersweet for him. As he put it ... Dr. Doom's introduction into the MCU is pretty cool, but he loved playing Kang -- and so, it's only natural he's bummed about Marvel's redirection.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00We got Jonathan Majors out, this on the heels of the announcement that Marvel is moving away from him and toward Robert Downey Jr.
00:09Right.
00:10And he is heartbroken.
00:12Yeah, he's very upset about this big reveal at Comic-Con last weekend with Robert Downey Jr. playing the role of Doctor Doom.
00:20The reason Jonathan is upset about this is he was supposed to be the next big villain in Marvel's Avengers series.
00:29And instead, they've gone away from his character. He was supposed to be playing a character called Kang.
00:35And in fact, he already played the character in the Ant-Man movie.
00:38But now they've moved away from Kang and they're going to Doctor Doom and Robert Downey Jr.
00:43Why is this upsetting to him? Well, here's what Jonathan had to say.
00:48He's not coming right out and saying it, but listen to how he says this.
00:52He's hinting at a double standard.
00:55Are you hurt with the new direction that like Marvel is like going?
01:01Yeah, heartbroken.
01:04You are?
01:05Yeah. Come on. Come on. Yeah, of course. I love him. I love Kang.
01:10Both Robert Downey Jr. and Ezra Miller have had like a history of trouble with like, you know, the law and getting arrested for felonies.
01:18I mean, you only had a misdemeanor. Do you feel like it's unfair that like you're not being given the same opportunities as them?
01:27Damn. I think it's I think it's fair that Mr.
01:34Downey is being and has been greeted with patience and curiosity and love.
01:42And Mr. Miller has gotten the same treatment and that they're being allowed to work their art.
01:49I really get that. So, you know, I mean, why do you think that's the case, though?
01:53Like for that? I don't know.
02:02Would you want your old rollback, like your old job back as Kang the Conqueror?
02:07Yeah. Hell yeah. Hell yeah.
02:09Hell yeah. I got to say, first of all, shout out to our camera person, Jordan.
02:14She did a great job. And it was and it was framed so perfectly.
02:19And I think he really did reveal a lot there.
02:21Yeah, like a lot. Yeah. First of all, I think that the thing that he he didn't want to say he didn't.
02:29He said it. We expected, I think, as you're watching it, as it's playing out,
02:33you think he's going to play the race card, right?
02:36That he's saying that Ezra Miller and Robert Downey Jr.
02:40got chances, got second chances. Why am I not getting the same?
02:45That's kind of what he didn't say it, but he doesn't have to.
02:48He didn't have to. I'm picking up on that as well.
02:51Whether it's race card or something else, he's implying that there's a double standard here.
02:55However, I want to correct him a little bit because Robert Downey Jr.,
02:59when he was going through his saga in the 90s, early 2000s,
03:02he was in fact excommunicated from Hollywood.
03:04He was on the on the blacklist, if you will.
03:07And guess what? He, over time, made a comeback.
03:10He got the Iron Man role, and it took years for that to happen, right?
03:14So Robert Downey Jr. was in fact blacklisted, pushed out of Hollywood amid his mess, made a comeback.
03:19Took a while, but he did. Ezra Miller, it's apples to oranges.
03:22Well, it's a different studio. It's not Marvel. It's DC. Talk to them if you're upset.
03:26And the Ezra Miller thing, when that was unfolding, his own legal saga,
03:30that movie was mostly in the can, right?
03:32So the calls at the time were, oh, recast him, replace him.
03:35It was going to cost way too much money to do that.
03:37They'd already shot most of the principal photography.
03:39So again, it's apples to oranges.
03:42But I disagree with you, Fabian. I agree with you on Ezra.
03:45I disagree with you on Robert Downey Jr.
03:48Robert Downey Jr. didn't get roles for a long time,
03:51not because he was canceled, because his substance abuse problem was so bad,
03:56he was unreliable and the studio couldn't bank on him.
04:00He has shown over time that he's fine and can do it, and he's just soared.
04:05But it wasn't the kind of cancellation that Jonathan Majors is facing.
04:09Right. And I think Jonathan Majors, the other reason, the other thing he's saying here,
04:14and he, I mean, he as much as said this,
04:17but there's a good reason why he said he would like the job back.
04:21It's still possible. It's still out there.
04:23Marvel has said that they are going to go back to the Kang character after Doctor Doom movies play out.
04:30I don't know how many movies they're going to have Doom as the main villain,
04:34but they do plan to go back to Kang.
04:35So the door is open.
04:39By the time they get to it, will they consider Jonathan?
04:42I think that's possible.
04:43And maybe that's why they turn to a different villain,
04:47because they want to see how this all plays out.
04:49And maybe they go back to Jonathan.
04:51You know, we know that's what he's hoping.
04:52We have not talked about this, but in a way, the prosecution lost that case against Jonathan Majors.
04:59Yeah, because the main reason they brought it,
05:01the only reason they brought it was because of the allegation that he struck his girlfriend inside that Uber.
05:10And the jury said not guilty on that.
05:13Unanimously, what they did find him guilty for is what you saw.
05:15There's the pulling him out of the car, the way he put her back in the car.
05:19But that was never the reason they filed that case.
05:23It was just kind of an add on.
05:24So I'm not saying that it's right, but that's not why they filed.
05:28And if it was just that, they probably would have never filed.
05:31And that's exactly why I think Jonathan will, in fact, get redemption and a comeback.
05:35And it's just going to take a little time.
05:37It's his conviction.
05:38His conviction was in December.
05:39Mind you, we're only in July.
05:41A little more time, if you will, quote unquote, behind the social bars, and he will make a comeback.
05:46He's got to do his time.
05:47That's all. He'll come back.
05:49Hey, what's going on?
05:49I'm Patrick Cloud from Los Angeles, California.
05:52Look, I think you guys hit the nail on the head.
05:55I think that we're just in a cool down period.
05:57Marvel just needs to wait for all this to wash over.
06:00He was found not guilty.
06:02So I think that it must be tough to work all the way up to, you know, playing such an iconic character.
06:09We were all excited to see him as Kang the Conqueror.
06:11And I think that he still has a shot.
06:13I think we're all excited to see Dr.
06:15Doom, Robert Downey Jr.'s, you know, brushing off the mask.
06:18It must be tough to get replaced by Iron Man.
06:21You know, that must be like going all the way to the NFL as a quarterback and getting replaced by Tom Brady.
06:26And you're just like, man, I thought you were done doing that.
06:28I thought I made it.
06:29Now that you came back.
06:30By the way, there are reports Robert Downey Jr.'s getting up to $70 million for this.
06:35You've seen the numbers about how much he's made on all the Marvel movies.
06:38It is crazy.
06:40Wow.
06:41Yeah.