rewrite this title Jeremy Renner Addresses Jonathan Majors Firing, Explains Why Marvel Didn’t Ax Him

Renner, best known as Hawkeye in the MCU, got candid about the assault accusations made against Majors and his own similar legal woes, saying he didn’t “know what the difference is between gossip and anything else,” adding, “I don’t know enough about Jonathan and his situation to know.”

During an episode of The Breakfast Club Power 105.1, the Hawkeye star got candid about Majors’ abrupt exit from the current phase of Marvel movies. 

Majors, who played the time-sprawling villain Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was set to be the next Thanos for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe — we’re talking Phases 5 and 6 built around him. But that all blew up when the actor was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment late last year. Marvel didn’t waste a second, immediately cutting ties and sending the studio back to the drawing board to figure out the franchise’s future.

But the Breakfast Club hosts weren’t afraid to go there, asking Renner the obvious question: Why was Majors axed so fast when Renner himself faced similar allegations back in 2019?

If you recall the drama, Renner’s ex-wife Sonni Pacheco accused the actor of threatening behavior and substance abuse during their heated custody battle. Renner has consistently and strongly denied every one of those claims, calling them false and part of a nasty legal fight.

When pressed on the difference between the two situations, the usually stoic Avenger kept it real. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what the difference is between gossip and anything else,” Renner mused. He admitted he wasn’t fully in the loop on his Majors’ legal woes, adding, “I don’t know enough about Jonathan and his situation to know.”

He did, however, acknowledge the massive loss for the franchise, saying, “I know they had big plans for that character, that’s for sure. Whatever transpired… that sucks, I think.”

Renner stressed that in situations like these, “due diligence really has to be played out” and implied that the overwhelming public opinion likely factored into Marvel’s quick and decisive choice to show Majors the door.

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So, while Majors’ legal issues ended his run as the MCU’s next big bad, Renner — whose own past allegations never led to a conviction — has clearly solidified his spot in the Marvel universe — although, when he will reprise his role as Hawkeye remains up in the air. When asked about his involvement in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars during his Breakfast Club interview, Renner crushed the hearts of all Marvel fanboys when he replied with a short and firm, “No, no.”

This, of course, led to a concern about Hawkeye being replaced by a variant due to the franchise’s multiverse shenanigans, to which Renner replied, “If they want to do that [replace him with a Hawkeye Variant,] they can go ahead by all means and do that. I’m pretty busy myself.” 

As for Kang the Conqueror — who was last seen as a variant named Victor Timely in the second season of Loki — Marvel/Disney ended up scrapping his storyline, instead opting for one of Marvel Comics’ most notorious supervillains: Doctor Doom, who was teased during the post-credits scene in this year’s Fantastic Four: First Steps. The role will be played by MCU royalty Robert Downey Jr., who will take center stage in the aforementioned Avengers: Doomsday, slated for a December 18, 2026 release.