Image via Marvel
Jonathan Majors is so damn likable.
So much so that it was difficult to imagine him playing the antagonist in not one but two of the biggest movies of the year—Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, out today, and Creed III, out next month.
I have yet to watch or read a Majors’ interview that I didn’t enjoy. He is usually so thorough and thoughtful in his responses, careful in making sure he weaves the right words together to captivate what he is thinking. This is sometimes challenging when talking about a Marvel film, as the stars are usually strictly warned against spoilers, but even during a short interview, the actor makes it so that you feel like you have his full attention every second you’re speaking to him.
Majors is starring as Kang the Conqueror in Quantamania, and in Creed III as Adonis Creed’s opponent Damian Anderson. He’s phenomenal in both and makes you wonder how such a pleasant person can turn into two of the greatest movie villains we’ve seen in recent memory. This is no spoiler by any means because if you’ve seen him in any of his previous projects, you already knew the level of greatness to expect from him. But aside from the actor’s goal of making audiences happy with his performances, Majors also has high standards for himself.
The actor is a Yale School of Drama graduate, holding a Master of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious university—and it shows. It doesn’t matter if he’s starring in a superhero film or an action flick, he will show up as the thespian he is each and every time. He also has the looks, the charm, and the physique of a movie star—and for those who said there weren’t any real movie stars left, Majors is hell-bent on proving them wrong, because he has it all.
Adding depth and substance to Marvel films is a challenge in and of itself, but Majors succeeds in his introduction into the universe (Kang first appeared in Loki, but this is his first appearance in a film.) When news hit that he would be joining the MCU, I was skeptical wondering if the studio would know what to do with an actor of his caliber. Christian Bale’s appearance in last year’s Thor: Love & Thunderleft much to be desired. While the Oscar winner delivered an outstanding performance as Gorr the God Butcher, his character, who was a highlight in the otherwise zany and bizarre film, was severely underutilized. The Ant-Man films have also been known for their humor and levity but Majors has charged in, adding emotional depth and the kind of acting prowess that is often so needed and missing in these types of films.
“I think I have a point of view on what I want. A lot of times in a scene or in a movie or in a project or in a relationship of any sort, if you feel like there’s something missing, right? It’s usually because you’re the one that’s supposed to supply it. Do you know what I mean? And that’s your job,” Majors tells Complex. That missing factor is exactly what he provided in the incredibly intimate and quiet scenes he shares with Michelle Pfeiffer (who plays Janet Van Dyne) that explain their shared history in the Quantum Realm and his past, and they are the most exquisite and memorable moments from the film.
“In those scenes and in the overarching of the Ant-Man films, this one in particular, I thought, ‘Oh yeah, there’s a lot of that and there are glimpses of other things.’ But for me, I thought, ‘Well, how do we balance it out?’” Majors says. “To me, it seemed it was a no-brainer that these scenes had to be heartfelt and honest and real—and didn’t have the veneer of what the other elements of the film do so broadly and so well—that I could contribute to in a different way. Where do I get in? How do I help? So that was the objective in that and then the scene partners and just understanding the situation at hand and really just letting that ground you.”
As his scene partner, Pfeiffer was thoroughly impressed by his delivery. “As an actor, working with him was really exceptional. Of course, he had a great part that was written for him, but what he brought to it wasn’t necessarily on the page and so it just sort of drew me in,” she tells Complex. “I have to say that you don’t typically find moments in these types of movies where the movie allows you or the director allows you to have these intimate, quieter [moments]. And we had a lot of them. There were more, but we have a lot, and I have to give [director] Peyton [Reed] credit for having the courage to do that in this type of film. But I really, really enjoyed working with [Majors].”
To know there were more Kang and Janet moments that we won’t get to see in the film is disappointing, but Quantumania already has a two-hour runtime so some cuts are necessary. Luckily for fans, Majors has already signed on to star in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2026) so there’s more of Majors and Kang in store. The Kang we meet in Quantumania is not the terrifying villain you go into the film expecting at first. There is a sort of innocence, and deep pain hidden in his calm demeanor that later develops and manifests as anger and the need for revenge.
It’s easy to first empathize or relate to Kang’s desperation for trying to escape the Quantum Realm, and Majors brings forth those instances of Kang’s humanity through subtle facial expressions and the softness and childlike fear that you see in his eyes. “He differs [from other villains] because Kang is a human being. He’s not a machine. He’s not from another place. He’s a human being. He’s relatable to the audience,” Majors says about his character. “Yes, some of the Avengers are not human beings, but the audiences are all human beings. And so there’s something about Kang that is so, whether you want to or not, relatable because he has human emotions and he has human drives. They’re just very, very extreme.”
I wonder if Majors is afraid or nervous about being boxed in as a bad guy after taking on these roles as Kang and Damian in Creed III. But his concern is not being typecast; he is simply focused on doing his best with every performance in any project he appears in. “It’s not that I don’t get nervous, you know what I mean? Because I care deeply that you like it. Literally you. I think, ‘Oh, do you like it?’ I care about that. We all made it for you. Please like it. We want that,” Majors says, referencing my earlier praise of his performance. “You can’t be cavalier about that. But I do have things in place that protect my mental, which allows me to do my job, which to me gives me a bit more insurance that you will like it because I’m not listening to the noise. I don’t listen to the chatter. If it’s relevant to my survival, it will get to me. You know what I mean? It will get to me.”
“It’s more of a gift, I’m never nervous about giving a gift. We’re making it with good intentions,” he adds. “I’m not concerned. I’m not afraid about it, because it’s a gift, for sure. And I hope everyone likes it.”
Not only will viewers get a kick out of Majors in Ant-Man 3, but his costars, who experienced it all firsthand, enjoyed the ride too. “Jonathan as Kang, there’s such a threat,” Paul Rudd, who stars as Scott Lang and Ant-Man, tells Complex about his costar. “This is the third Ant-Man movie, but by far the biggest threat we’ve ever faced, the biggest villain and he’s a terrific actor. What he was bringing to that role really changed the entire feel and it made it exciting and threatening and scary and all of that, so it felt fresh and fun.”
Evangeline Lilly, who plays Hope Van Dyne, says Majors’ approach to acting is how she believes it should be done. “I loved working with Jonathan. Jonathan is intense and I really enjoy that,” Lilly says. “My preferred way of working is to fully go there and not just pretend but like embody, you know, like be in it. And he is the epitome of that. He embodies Kang and he comes on to set with the energy of Kang.”
Lilly is also the second person on a totally different project that I have heard say that Majors is fully committed to the characters he is playing even before he walks through the door. During the Creed III panel at ComplexCon in November, his costar and director Michael B. Jordan recalled Majors bumping loud music in the car as he pulled up to the set, choosing specific songs or artists like Tupac to get into the right groove. And now Lilly has corroborated that the actor uses music to set the tone for his performance, the way a boxer does before he steps into the ring.
“Jonathan is always blaring music on set. He comes in with a boombox, and he’s holding it in his hand and blaring music,” Lilly tells Complex. “And that music tells you so much about what to expect from him that day, from Kang in that scene, it’s always very telling. Sometimes it can be really aggressive hip-hop, sometimes it can be really elegant classical music, sometimes it can be atmospheric, kind of emo alternative out there music. I really dug how committed he is on set.”
After hearing those two stories, I ask Majors what he thinks Kang’s theme song would be, and he naturally chooses between two classic Notorious B.I.G. tracks. “One theme song? Notorious B.I.G.—I mean, it’d be ‘Juicy,’ right?” Majors says, before quickly changing his mind. “No, ‘Big Poppa.’ ‘Big Poppa.’ I love it when you call me Big Poppa, yeah.”
It’s not exactly the menacing tune that I expected for a big, bad villain, but it is a solid choice for the way Majors will confidently conquer everything in his path as Kang and beyond.
Watch Majors transform into Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, in theaters now.