For much of the last year, the question has hung in the air around what Marvel is going to do with Kang. First, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania underperformed significantly, intended to be the Multiverse Saga uber-villain’s big launch on the world. Then, months after allegations were made against him, actor Jonathan Majors was found guilty of assault in December, at which point he was dropped by the studio. In the wake of all that, Marvel Studios is said to be retooling its plans for the future – plans which originally had the next Avengers movie down as The Kang Dynasty.
According to a new THR report, Marvel is said to be dropping the name The Kang Dynasty for Avengers 5, a move which is said to be a reflection of both Majors’ removal from the role, and the underwhelming reaction to Quantumania. The film previously had Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton as director, though he since exited the project; original writer Jeff Loveness (who also penned Quantumania) also left the film, replaced by Michael Waldron. The film doesn’t currently have a director publicly announced. It’s still dated for 1 May 2026, though it would be unsurprising if that changed too.
It’s unclear what direction Marvel moves in next for its wider plan – previous reports have hinted that Galactus may take over big-bad duties, while Avengers 6 is still down as Secret Wars. For now, all focus is on this summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine, the freshly-cast The Fantastic Four, and the animated return of the mutants in X-Men ’97.