Jonathan Majors has landed his first film role since being convicted of domestic assault in 2023.
The actor, who was subsequently fired from Disney‘s Marvel Cinematic Universe, will star in the independent revenge thriller Merciless, which will be helmed by Martin Villeneuve, the younger brother of Dune director Denis Villeneuve.
Written by Frank Hannah, the upcoming film follows a CIA investigator who goes to troubling lengths after the one he loves is overpowered by sinister forces. Filming is expected to begin in Saskatchewan, Canada in autumn.
Majors was sentenced in April to one year of domestic violence counselling after he was found guilty of assaulting and harassing his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. Following a two-week trial, the actor was ordered to complete a 52-week in-person program in Los Angeles. Majors has always denied the assault allegations.
During the sentencing, the 34-year-old actor avoided prison time for the offence, which would have seen him incarcerated for one year.
Before his arrest in March 2023, Majors’ star status was on the rise, having appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Creed III, as well as the Emmy-winning TV series Lovecraft Country.
Following the guilty verdict, Marvel Studios severed ties with Majors, who played the new central villain, Kang the Conqueror, in the MCU. He was expected to appear in a number of upcoming films in the comic book franchise, including 2026’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s title has now been scrapped, and the project will be officially known as Avengers 5 until a new title is chosen. The decision to completely change the name of the film suggests that Kang will be written out of the franchise, as opposed to being recast.
As a result of the conviction, Majors was also dropped by his management company, Entertainment 360, as well as his publicity firm, the Lede Company.
Merciless is being produced by Christopher Tuffin, who previously announced his plans to start a new media venture that “refuses to let the court of public opinion and selective prosecution undermine great art and artists.”
“In graduate school, I had the good fortune to study screenwriting under Blacklist scribe Millard Lampell and learned from him the dangers of letting politics undermine due process and deprive artists of their careers,” Tuffin said in a statement (via Variety). “I consider it an honor and a privilege to be working with such a great talent now that this matter has been adjudicated.”
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