Jonathan Majors wowed Loki fans when he showed up as He Who Remains. But while most fans thought Majors’ turn as He Who Remains came about because of his casting as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Loki director Kate Herron said the opposite is true.
In interviews about the season finale, Herron said that Majors was cast as Kang because of his role as He Who Remains, leading the character to be retconned into a Kang variant.
“It was such a crazy situation,” said Herron to The Wrap. “I was in a casting conversation with Kevin Feige, the studio, and [Quantumania director] Peyton [Reed], and I was like how am I at this table? I think Jonathan was just an actor that we all loved. And really, to be honest, it was just a case of seeing if he was interested, which he was and then just trying to make it work with his schedule, because he’s a very busy man.”
Herron went onto say that once Majors was cast in Loki, he was quickly snapped up for Quantumania.
“We cast him for the role at the same time,” Herron said. “When he was cast in that, it was because we knew he was going to be in our show first.”
Herron also told The Hollywood Reporter about how she and the other Marvel crew love Majors taking part in the MCU.
“I already knew when I got the job that it was going to be a massive undertaking to do that and a big responsibility for Marvel to get it right,” she said regarding introducing He Who Remains. “And Jonathan Majors is an actor that we were all just blown away by; I think everyone who knows his work is blown away by him. And when I knew we had Jonathan, he and I were solely focused on He Who Remains and this version of the character, this variant.”
Loki’s first season is currently streaming on Disney+, the second season is expected sometime in 2022.
