Marvel Cuts Ties With Jonathan Majors Immediately After Guilty Verdict

Film giant Marvel has parted ways with “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” star Jonathan Majors.

The decision comes in the wake of the actor being found guilty of two out of four charges in his domestic trial. Majors was arrested back in March following an incident with his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in February next year and is expected to remain out of contact with Jabbari. He potentially faces up to a year in jail, in line with the customary sentencing for his crimes.

Barely hours after being found guilty of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment, Jonathan Majors has seen himself kicked out of the Marvel franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Prior to his legal troubles, the actor had played the enigmatic role of Kang the Conqueror in two Marvel projects, namely, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Loki.” His character was expected to be more prominent in the MCU’s next phase, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

It appears that Marvel decided to break ties with Majors to distance themselves from the stain of his legal issues, which could become a PR problem for future projects. In the meantime,  Majors has yet to react to losing his multimillion-dollar role with the company, and there's no clear information about what Marvel plans to do next. However, hiring Michael Waldron, the creator of Loki, to work on a new draft suggests that the actor’s role might be recast.

It comes after a jury of three men and three women delivered the verdict that the actor was guilty of reckless assault and harassment of Grace Jabbari back in March. The panel, however, did not find him guilty of intentional assault in the third degree and of aggravated harassment in the second degree against the victim, who was his then-girlfriend.

Majors, who came to court with his customary bible and notepad, put on a look of stoic resignation as the verdict was being read. His family members, who were also in the courtroom, showed no reaction in line with the instructions of Judge Michael Gaffey.

The actor is set to be sentenced on February 6 and could potentially face up to a year in prison for the domestic violence incident. During this period, he is under a protective order mandating that he refrain from any contact with Jabbari.

Following the verdict, District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a statement thanking the jury for delivering justice in the case.

“At the Manhattan D.A.’s Office, we are committed to centering survivors in all of our work,” the attorney said in a statement, per Deadline.

He added, “The evidence presented throughout this trial illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse and escalating patterns of coercion far too common across the many intimate partner violence cases we see each and every day. Today, a jury determined that the pattern of abuse and coercion culminated with Mr. Majors assaulting and harassing his girlfriend. We thank the jury for its service and the survivor for bravely telling her story despite having to relive her trauma on the stand.”

Their statement also aligned with that of Jabbari's lawyer, who publicly stated that "justice has been served” by the verdict.

Meanwhile, Major’s attorneys slammed the verdict, saying that they were “disappointed” with the decision. They also indicated that their client intends to appeal the decision.

"It is clear that the jury did not believe Grace Jabbari’s story of what happened in the SUV because they found that Mr. Majors did not intentionally cause any injuries to her. We are grateful for that," Chaudhry stated on Monday. "We are disappointed, however, that despite not believing Ms. Jabbari, the jury nevertheless found that Mr. Majors was somehow reckless while she was attacking him."

“Mr. Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends, and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months,” added Chaudhry. “Mr. Majors still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.”