Yes, why not just recast Kang? It's not like they haven't done some high level recasts for one reason or another. My suspicion is that Kang was not resonating with people and combined with poor performance of different projects they decided to go in another direction
From what I've read - it had more to do with the character not popping or resonating enough. He's a relatively obscure comic villain that most of the audience didn't recognize. (I certainly didn't and I read comics.) And his introduction was in two properties that didn't quite hit as well as projected. The actor screwing up - just gave them the excuse they needed to go in another direction, which they were flirting with after Quantumania bombed (from Disney's perspective).
Also Doctor Doom - had a high interest level. And it lead into bringing in the Fantastic Four and X-men, the two hot properties that Marvel had been wanting to premiere in the MCU (again).
Mind you, I don't know that Thanos was revving any engines pre-Infinity War either. He did appear briefly in other films but he was mostly just something to fight against. Whereas they did spend a good deal of time building up Kang in Loki (which did fairly well) as well as the whole aspect of the multiverse.
Not quite the same? Thanos is well-known by most comics fans. And only folks with Disney + saw Loki. Kang's success hinged on Quantumania - which bombed. Also not enough people got hooked into Loki to launch Kang. Doctor Doom on the other hand is a well-known villain, basically Marvel's version of Lex Luther. Also, he's a white guy, Eastern European, and a guy with a King complex - fits very well with the current political environment, and as a statement against fascism. And they could get Downy Jr to play him. And he's complicated but not convoluted like Kang. They wanted a white male Lex Luther style villain for a diverse cast of heroes to fight.
Kang worked better prior to ahem, the current political situation. Disney is tuned into that more than you might think. And they need a villain that speaks to people - who people want to destroy, but find entertaining. Kang...was let's face it? Didn't grab folks, he wasn't interesting. Plus the who multiple time lines/multi-verse is confusing to people and not exciting for most.
The big issue to me is that the writing isn't there.
Agree. I think it's why they pulled the Russo's back in as showrunners for Doomsday and Secret Wars. Because the writing to date has been lackluster.
Although I've seen good reviews for Iron Heart, and Thunderbolts did VERY well, breaking some records, and surprising people. I've not seen either - but Thunderbolts landed well. It did better than Captain America - Brave New World.
no subject
From what I've read - it had more to do with the character not popping or resonating enough. He's a relatively obscure comic villain that most of the audience didn't recognize. (I certainly didn't and I read comics.) And his introduction was in two properties that didn't quite hit as well as projected. The actor screwing up - just gave them the excuse they needed to go in another direction, which they were flirting with after Quantumania bombed (from Disney's perspective).
Also Doctor Doom - had a high interest level. And it lead into bringing in the Fantastic Four and X-men, the two hot properties that Marvel had been wanting to premiere in the MCU (again).
Mind you, I don't know that Thanos was revving any engines pre-Infinity War either. He did appear briefly in other films but he was mostly just something to fight against. Whereas they did spend a good deal of time building up Kang in Loki (which did fairly well) as well as the whole aspect of the multiverse.
Not quite the same? Thanos is well-known by most comics fans. And only folks with Disney + saw Loki. Kang's success hinged on Quantumania - which bombed. Also not enough people got hooked into Loki to launch Kang. Doctor Doom on the other hand is a well-known villain, basically Marvel's version of Lex Luther. Also, he's a white guy, Eastern European, and a guy with a King complex - fits very well with the current political environment, and as a statement against fascism. And they could get Downy Jr to play him. And he's complicated but not convoluted like Kang. They wanted a white male Lex Luther style villain for a diverse cast of heroes to fight.
Kang worked better prior to ahem, the current political situation. Disney is tuned into that more than you might think. And they need a villain that speaks to people - who people want to destroy, but find entertaining. Kang...was let's face it? Didn't grab folks, he wasn't interesting. Plus the who multiple time lines/multi-verse is confusing to people and not exciting for most.
The big issue to me is that the writing isn't there.
Agree. I think it's why they pulled the Russo's back in as showrunners for Doomsday and Secret Wars. Because the writing to date has been lackluster.
Although I've seen good reviews for Iron Heart, and Thunderbolts did VERY well, breaking some records, and surprising people. I've not seen either - but Thunderbolts landed well. It did better than Captain America - Brave New World.