Why Colman Domingo Won't Replace Jonathan Majors As Marvel's Kang

Everybody wants to be a casting director. More than any other demographic, superhero fans have a knack for zeroing in on the hottest names and most in-demand stars on any given day and immediately dreaming up what kind of comic book role they'd be perfect for. Sometimes this works out nicely for everybody involved, like the no-brainer choice to cast Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool or Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. Other times, well, either the top picks simply didn't come to fruition for one reason or another ... or they did, but in a way that infuriated fanbases even more. (Sam Raimi is forever the GOAT for casting John Krasinski as Reed Richards in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," only to murder him in grisly fashion.)

Colman Domingo, who most recently earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the prison drama "Sing Sing," has spent years near the top of many a superhero fan's wish list. In fact, the acclaimed actor has already dipped his toe into both sides of the divide, albeit in voice roles exclusively (such as taking over for Winston Duke as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the "Batman Unburied" podcast series and voicing Norman Osborn in the recent animated series "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man"). One particular rumor has circulated among online circles for several months now, alleging that Domingo might take over the role of Kang the Conqueror from Jonathan Majors, who was found guilty of harassment and assault charges. As appealing as it might have been to see a talent like Domingo put the hurt on the Avengers, this would seem to have been debunked, what with Kevin Feige shifting gears entirely to focus on Robert Downey, Jr.'s Doctor Doom in "Avengers: Doomsday."

We're now hearing straight from the source about why this won't come to pass — even as Domingo confirms that he did, in fact, talk to Marvel's upper brass about the role of Kang and even left the door open for more talks in the future.

When is Colman Domingo finally going to make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the flesh? That's the question on seemingly everybody's mind, including the "Happy/Sad/Confused" podcast. In his latest episode, host Josh Horowitz invited the widely-respected actor for a lengthy conversation on everything from his work on "Euphoria" (Season 3 of which is finally and officially in production) to appearing alongside the late Chadwick Boseman in 2020's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" to, of course, the topic of whether he's ever going to put on a superhero — or supervillain — cape himself. After initially poking fun at animated roles always getting short shrift in these sorts of conversations, Domingo admitted that he totally gets the hype surrounding live-action roles and stated that he'd love to check that box at some point in the future. 

Addressing the Kang rumors specifically, he finally decided to get to the bottom of it and sat down with Marvel. As he explained:

"I think there had been conversations of me coming to Marvel in some way. So we [Domingo and his PR team] did follow up with a sit-down meeting with the heads of Marvel. So we did do that, and we talked openly about the landscape of Marvel or even the Kang rumors. [...] But I feel like I want a role to be mine, whatever that role is, whatever I develop. Something didn't feel right of me, like, 'Oh, would I replace someone?' No, I want to build something from the ground up that's my own."

You know what? You've got to respect a high-profile performer who would rather find out the truth for himself rather than endure months and months of baseless speculation. It's important to note that Domingo clarified that he isn't entirely sure if there was ever actually any smoke to the Kang recasting fires. However, he went on to drop one last scintillating tease about a possible Marvel role sometime down the line:

"So I feel like that was never a conversation from my point of view, if I was discussed [to take over Kang]. I still don't know if I was discussed, but I just know that I would want to build something up from the ground up. So, there's still talks."

If or when that ever happens, you can catch Domingo in the performance of a lifetime as "Sing Sing" is currently playing in theaters.