Marvel Studios Officially Addresses Kang's Return In 2026 Release After Jonathan Majors Firing

Published Aug 5, 2026, 5:05 PM EDT Andy Behbakht has worked as an entertainment journalist since 2010, covering all the latest in Hollywood on both the big and small screens, from staying on top of the biggest breaking news, analyzing movies and television shows in Hollywood, to in-depth interviews with actors and storytellers. Andy's career includes having worked for publications such as FanSided, KSiteTV, TV Fanatic, It's Just Movies, Heroic Hollywood, TV Overmind, and more. Outside of his career as an established reporter, Andy is the host and producer of The Showrunner Whisperer, The Flash Podcast, the editor-in-chief of Multiverse of Color, and the network director of DC TV Podcasts. Marvel Studios has seen numerous changes behind the scenes over the last couple of years for their various film and TV shows. While Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, the former Iron Man star will be taking on a brand new role in the franchise. Starting in Avengers: Doomsday, the veteran will be taking on Doctor Doom, following the shift from Kang the Conqueror. However, the Marvel foe ended up having a surprise return in 2026, but through the world of animation as a variant appeared in X-Men '97 season 2. In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant's Andy Behbakht, supervising producer and director Jake Castreona was asked if it was always the plan to use Kang in any capacity in season 2, despite the changes on the feature side. He made it clear that "he was there from the very early drafts. As far as I remember, that was always in script phase." However, Castreona stressed that "as far as like the conversations that may or may not have been had when Beau [DeMayo, former showrunner] was writing it at the time, or between everyone in the writers' room, of, "Are we including this because of what we're doing now and our plans for the future?" That is unbeknownst to me." He elaborated how "those were different meetings that I didn't need to be involved in, so I wasn't there. I can neither confirm nor deny if that was truly the plan, but there is always some level of synergy amongst the studios. But at the end of the day, we are definitely our own universe, and we get to act accordingly." In X-Men '97 season 2, audience members met the Rama-Tut version of Kang, voiced by John de Lancie. This is the first actor to have played any incarnation of the foe since Jonathan Majors was fired by Marvel Studios. While his visit in the animated series was brief, it was still surprising to see the character make his way into the X-Men '97 continuity, especially as Kang was originally the big bad of The Multiverse Saga for the MCU. The last time viewers saw him in live-action was during Loki season 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Whether or not Kang even gets addressed in Avengers: Doomsday at all remains to be seen, but it is highly unlikely. With the attention now fully on Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, Majors' villain may, at the very least, get alluded to. Given that X-Men '97 is set in its own universe, there are already different versions of characters featured in the show that also appear in the MCU. But this also gives audience members of both properties a chance to get unique takes on various famous Marvel heroes and villains at the same time. That will likely be the case even in X-Men '97 season 3, as the Disney+ property has already been renewed for more episodes. After the season 2 ending next week, the series will return sometime in 2027 on the streaming platform. The X-Men '97 season 2 finale is scheduled to release on Wednesday, August 12, on Disney+. Release Date March 20, 2024 Network Disney+ Directors Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley Writers Charlie Feldman, Anthony Sellitti, Beau DeMayo, JB Ballard Franchise(s) X-Men Creator(s) Beau DeMayo