Marvel drops Jonathan Majors after conviction of assaulting ex-girlfriend

Emmy-nominated actor Jonathan Majors, a rising Hollywood star who had been set to play the leading role in an upcoming Marvel superhero film, was convicted of assaulting his then-girlfriend.

Following the verdict, Marvel Studios, an American film and television production company, dropped Marvel Studios.

A jury in New York found on Monday that the fast-rising Hollywood star Majors harassed and attacked British choreographer Grace Jabbari. He attacked her during an argument in March.

Following the verdict, a Marvel spokesperson said the studio authority has decided to work no longer with actor Jonathan Majors.

Majors, who played villain Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel films, starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania last February and on Disney+ series Loki.

The film studio had already pushed back release dates for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Majors was supposed to perform again on Avengers: Secret Wars, the follow-up film.

Marvel Studios is yet to clear whether it will replace him with another actor or write his character out of the films.

The studio has already hired the creator of Loki to re-work a draft of the film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Majors will be sentenced on February 6 the next year. He might have faced up to a year in prison but prosecutors have not indicated their plan for the period sentence.

Hailing the verdict Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in a statement said the evidence revealed a “cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion” by Majors.

Majors assaulted his then-girlfriend in a hired car in Manhattan in March, Prosecutors said, adding that Jabbari suffered head injuries following the assault.

The jurors also heard an audio recording of a separate argument the two had the same month, during which Majors advised Jabbari to act more like Coretta Scott King and Michelle Obama.

Majors who had been a rising star in Hollywood until his arrest appeared in the HBO series Lovecraft Country in 2020. His breakthrough performance came in the 2019 independent film The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

New York criminal court judge Michael Gaffey has barred Majors from having any contact with ex-girlfriend Jabbari.