[Interview] Jonathan Majors Channels Shakespeare in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

Jonathan Majors has a busy 2023 ahead of him, having last month wagged tongues at Sundance for his portrayal of an extreme bodybuilder in MAGAZINE DREAMS and next month, making a splashy debut in CREED III. This month, however, he’s delivering pathos and gravitas in ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA as Kang the Conqueror. His character’s intents are a bit slippery, but lend themselves to some big stakes. And the affable actor himself is a knock-out.

At the film’s recent virtual press conference, Majors shares he delights in getting to play an ever changing, challenging character.

“Who is Kang?  I think that is a question that we will all be answering for a very long time.  I think the quick answer to that is Kang is a time traveling super villain who is also a nexus being, which leads to this idea of variants. There’s multiple variants of Kang – they occupy different universes, multi-verses, they have different intentions. They are all different beings, and yet something that I’m still working on and continue to refine and refine to something as a throughline between them. That, to me, is the Kang gene.”

He likens joining the MCU to joining a dedicated, passionate theater troupe.

“This really feels like joining like the Shakespearean troupe, when you have Shakespeare in the room and you’ve got the guys in the room, and Shakespeare has a very clear idea of what it is they want to do. You have your lead actor, and they kind of set the tempo and the tone that you get in and you get busy.”

He elucidates further.

“The culture of the play and the story is all there, but it’s really changing. For that, you really have to be very clear about what it is you’re doing and who your character is, the spine of the character, what he’s about and what they’re going after. So, you built that. The rest of it, you just play hard. Kang gotta Kang. Kang is just different in so far that he lives in a very different world.” 

Majors approached the mercurial role – now having performed as another variant of Kang in DisneyPlus’ LOKI – by breaking down certain specifics, right down to who his director was going to be.

“The prep really comes down to who my director is, and who my hero is.  Because as an antagonist, we’re following our heroes. In this case, I had a few to kind of look at and break down, which is the fun part. I look at them and I figure out, ‘Okay, you can’t antagonize somebody if you don’t know who they are, if you don’t know what’s the opposite of them, if you don’t know what their hopes and dreams are.’ My objective is to do that; Antagonize in order to get what I need to fulfill my dream.”

He also looks to his scene partners for balance.

“In LOKI, I’m dealing with Tom; He Who Remains and Tom. I got to watch him the whole time.  This opportunity came to me in lockdown and so I studied Tom Hiddleston for hours a day. And then when that was done, I went, ‘Okay, Paul Rudd, you’re up.’ I studied him, and I studied him, and I studied all his hero colleagues and co-patriots.”

Majors also grounded his performance in the blueprints laid before him.

“You lean to the culture. I figure, he’s an everyday man. There’s lines that say, He Who Remains says, ‘I’m just flesh and blood.’ Kang has to relate to him first as a man – as a human being. He relates to all of them as a human being. Then we can combat.  Then I can get him to do what I need him to do, perhaps. And the rest of it, there’s always bookwork.”

He doesn’t take this opportunity playing such a looming villain for granted.

“We – artists, creators – make it for the people. We are the people [and] we make it for the people. We always make it with good intentions. You may not see it right away, but it’s in there.  If it wasn’t in there, I would’ve have given it to you. It’s the social contract.

The MCU has established itself as not just a national pillar, but an international pillar of culture and education and entertainment. To be Kang, to come in with that, you realize it can only get that far because it’s been pushed that far with so much strength, power, support. I also feel, and I’m learning more and more, that the fans and those who follow this world really love it and they really have an open heart about it.”

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA opens in theaters on February 17.