Avengers 5 Lead Actor Receives Backlash Following Arrest

By Gillian Blum Updated:
Jonathan Majors in front of Avengers: Endgame poster

Following Jonathan Majors' arrest on Saturday, the actor received major backlash online, being labeled among many things "a vicious, cruel, abusive human being."

The Kang actor, vehemently praised for his performance in Marvel's Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and set to be the lead star of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, was arrested in New York City for allegedly physically assaulting his girlfriend.

Majors and his representatives claim he is innocent, and the actor is currently out of custody.

With this news, though, Twitter users began to speak out against Majors.

Jonathan Majors' Troubling Allegations

Avengers 5, Jonathan Majors
Marvel

As news of Jonathan Majors' arrest broke, Twitter users began making their perspectives known about the Avengers 5 actor.

Back in February, filmmaker A.B. Allen tweeted about a beloved "actor ... who, in actuality, is a vicious, cruel, abusive human being:"

"There's a particular actor, relatively new on the scene, who Twitter has violently fallen head over heels for who, in actuality, is a vicious, cruel, abusive human being, both professionally and in his personal life, and every new viral thirst tweet about him drives me insane."

Following the news of Majors' arrest, a user tweeted "Now we know who this tweet was about," with a screenshot of A.B. Allen's previous post. Allen then simply responded "Ding / Ding / Ding / Ding."

When pressed on why the user now will not share more, despite the public at large seemingly seeing evidence of what was posted, A.B. Allen explained that it "would still expose people who have been hurt:"

"The specifics of what *I* know unfortunately would still expose people who have been hurt and deserve to not become part of some larger media inquiry if they don't want to. So I'm not gonna get into the details. But now y'all know what his ~deal~ is, so."

Society Theatre co-founder and Broadway actor/director Tim Nicolai offered support on Twitter in posts that have since been made private, sharing that "it’s strangely a relief to know other humans were out there who understand."

Nicolai continued, saying that many in Yale and NYC communities — later specified to be 2012-2017 graduates from NYU/Juilliard/Yale — consider the actor "a sociopath and abuser:"

"I’m just gonna say this about Jonathan Majors and be done with it: folks at Yale and the broader NYC community have known about him for years. He’s a sociopath and abuser and that is how virtually everyone speaks about him. It’s a shame it took this long for him to be reported."

In response to comments about why it seems people kept quiet if they knew this about Majors, Nicolai explained that "people have tried ... It’s both simultaneously awful to know he is still doing this and also a relief that he may never get to again:"

"I’m already seeing a bunch of ‘why didn’t you do anything?!’ Folks, people have tried. Ultimately needed a victim to come forward. It’s both simultaneously awful to know he is still doing this and also a relief that he may never get to again."

Nicolai did not want to expose people who want to remain quiet:

"A bunch of us are close with people (and sometimes multiple people) he has directly harmed. I don’t know if they will speak on it. It is completely their decision."

Nicolai explained that "If casting directors like you, that’s the currency. But nobody would call his exes, gf at the time, directors, professors. They just don’t do that."

The actor went on to share that "Literally people [Jonathan Majors] did this to are texting me right now. It’s not ‘I heard.'"

Disney and Marvel Studios have yet to officially comment on the Avengers: The Kang Dynasty star's arrest.

Release Date
February 17, 2023
Platform
Theaters
- About The Author: Gillian Blum
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.