Since Marvel fired Jonathan Majors in December 2023, the rumour mill has been churning nonstop about what will happen to his character, Kang the Conqueror. Fans and insiders alike have been putting forward replacement names and possible scenarios for the role.
One of those fan favourites just pulled out of the race: Luke James of Them: The Scare series responded to The Direct's interview that he’s not interested in playing Kang but is open to exploring other possible Marvel roles.
"Marvel as a whole? Yes. Kang the Conqueror? No,” he reveals. “But I wouldn't not take the meeting. There are so many brilliant characters, because I mean, it's so many characters. There are so many characters I would love a take at."
His dream MCU role? The skateboarding vigilante Thrasher. “As a kid, I loved Thrasher, especially when I was introduced to him via Spider-Man. I just thought that was really cool. I skateboard. I thought it was really sick,” he adds.
Luke James, a versatile artist who started his Hollywood career in music as a singer-songwriter, even earning two Grammy Award nominations in 2014. As an actor, he achieved his breakthrough as part of the main casts of the musical show Star (2017 to 2019) and drama The Chi (2020 to present). His latest performance as Edmund Maines in the horror anthology series Them (2024) on Prime Video has been noticed by viewers, earning the fans’ support as a potential replacement for Majors.
Majors played Kang the Conqueror, who made his MCU debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), his variants in the Council of Kangs, and He Who Remains and Victor Timely in two seasons of the Disney+ series Loki. The studio had been building up the character as the main antagonist of the upcoming Avengers 5 film, formerly subtitled The Kang Dynasty.
Avengers 5 continues to move forward, with a release date of May 2026. Reportedly, Kang's role was reduced after Quantumania's underperformance at the box office.
Watch this space for more news on Marvel and Avengers 5!