What Next - Marvel’s Disastrous Year
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4.2 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 21 December 2023
⏱️ 21 minutes
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Summary
After his character, Kang the Conqueror, was set up to be the big villain of the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jonathan Majors was dismissed from the franchise after being found guilty of reckless assault and harassment.
Guest: Michael Schulman, staff writer for the New Yorker.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Madeline Ducharme, Anna Phillips, Paige Osburn, and Rob Gunther.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before this week I did not know very much about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. |
| 0:11.0 | To be honest, Michael Schulman from over at the New Yorker, he isn't much of an |
| 0:14.8 | MCU head either, but because he covers Hollywood. Becoming an expert has not |
| 0:20.1 | really been optional for him. I mean Marvel is the most successful franchise in |
| 0:28.4 | movie history. |
| 0:35.0 | Okay, that's saying something. Yeah, I mean, it's made more money than anything in movies since the existence of movies. |
| 0:43.3 | And it not only is successful on its own, |
| 0:46.3 | but it kind of created this model of having |
| 0:49.9 | a cinematic universe where all of the different movies and eventually TV shows are connected |
| 0:57.0 | on a fictional canvas and one blockbuster can you know beget another blockbuster and lead audiences to the M.C. U. No, it's been disastrous. |
| 1:15.0 | 2023 has been disastrous for Marvel at the box office, |
| 1:18.8 | with ticket sales way down. |
| 1:21.2 | It's been disastrous behind the scenes with the sudden departure of key executives. |
| 1:26.2 | And then this week, it became disastrous in an entirely new way. |
| 1:31.1 | This morning actor Jonathan Major's assent in Hollywood halted as he awaits sentencing. |
| 1:36.0 | Jonathan Major's was gearing up to be Marvel's next big star. |
| 1:40.0 | Then he got found guilty of abusing his girlfriend. |
| 1:44.0 | Jonathan, how do you feel right now? |
| 1:46.0 | Major's convicted of two misdemeanors for recklessly assaulting his then girlfriend, Grace Jabari, in March, |
| 1:51.0 | fracturing her finger, and leaving her ear bloody. |
| 1:54.0 | He was acquitted of assaulting her intentionally. |
| 1:56.6 | He was found guilty of a domestic violence crime, essentially. |
... |
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