Loki production designer and director Kasra Farahani just commented on Jonathan Majors' highly-publicized arrest for the first time.
While Majors made his grand return to the role of Kang the Conqueror and his Variants in Loki Season 2, he did so while being shrouded in controversy, as he has been since earlier in 2023.
The MCU star was arrested on assault charges in March 2023 and is awaiting the final results of his trial, all while his future in the entertainment industry remains in limbo.
Loki Creative Speaks on Jonathan Majors' Arrest
Speaking with Variety, Kasra Farahani, who directed the latest episode of Loki, "1893," and served as the production designer on both seasons of the series, spoke for the first time on the discomfort surrounding Jonathan Majors' arrest after the star made his MCU return in Loki.
When asked about his reaction to the news, Farahani described it as a surprise but noted he had "such a great experience on the set" with Majors and the rest of the cast.
Praising Majors' ingenuity along with that of stars Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson, the MCU creative confirmed that there was no drama on set and that the cast "all worked together super well:"
"It was a surprise for sure. But I don’t know anything about it, other than to say that we had, honestly, such a great experience on the set. The cast was a wonderful ensemble. They all worked together super well. Tom would have an idea, Jonathan would have ideas, Owen is an idea machine. The experience on set was without any drama, and just a joy. For me, especially as my first big directing opportunity, I count myself so fortunate to be working with such high-caliber actors that made the directing that much easier for me."
Reports previously noted that Marvel has no intention of changing course with Majors, as his Kang the Conqueror will become the overarching big bad of the entire Multiverse Saga when everything is said and done.
Farahani also discussed Majors' role in this series as Victor Timely, calling him a "brilliant guy who’s operating like an Einstein-type figure" while touching on the character's awkwardness around people as well.
It was also important for the team to give him a "kind of conman quality" as a "Black man in the late 19th Century in America," with Farahani explaining how Timely used his mind and his wit to make his way in this world:
"The idea with Victor Timely that we came up with in the writers’ room is that he’s this brilliant guy who’s operating like an Einstein-type figure, seven levels above everybody else, but as a result, he’s got an awkwardness on the most basic level. Also, we wanted him to have this kind of conman quality, which in my mind is justified by the fact that he’s a Black man in the late 19th Century in America, trying to operate in the technical industry. He’s probably had to use his wits and be clever on his feet to make it happen. And his ideas exceed the technological capability of the era, so to compensate, there’s a degree of, like, 'Trust me, this is all real.'"
The director revealed one specific inspiration for Timely in Black inventor Granville Woods from the late 1800s, who regularly developed great inventions and would have "his patents challenged by other prominent inventors."
This man would eventually wind up working with Thomas Edison, with the Loki team looking to get some of the stress and duress he experienced into Victor Timely's story as well:
"On top of that, we took a lot of inspiration from a figure that I had come across and I talked to Jonathan about named Granville Woods. He was a Black inventor from the exactly the era Timely would have lived, who invented so many amazing things. He was constantly having his patents challenged by other prominent inventors. Edison tried to claim two of his patents; lost in court both times; ended up offering Woods a job. Woods turned it down. So we wanted to get some of that element in there, that this is a person who’s under duress. I mean, the very nature that he’s making this presentation in the Hofbräu of the Midway, instead of the machine room in the White City, where everybody else is presenting their big inventions, is part of, I think, this dynamic."
What's in Store for Jonathan Majors' MCU Future?
Even though Jonathan Majors' current place in the MCU is complicated, it appears his involvement is still fairly set in stone.
Following his run in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and both seasons of Loki, there are rumors a Kang Variant will be featured in Moon Knight Season 2 before he takes on the next two Avengers films.
And with Majors' antagonist set to make a bigger mark in the MCU than even the Mad Titan Thanos, all eyes will be pinned on the actors' legal situation to see whether he will continue with this epic role.
The first three episodes of Loki Season 2 are now streaming on Disney+.
