Perhaps the most iconic superhero movie performance of all time came in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, where the late Heath Ledger gave us his chilling, masterful portrayal of the Joker. The part saw him win an Oscar, a rare feat for comic book movies.
Marvel star Jonathan Majors (Kang) recently cited Ledger’s performance as a huge inspiration for him. It pushed him to join acting school, and the rest is history. “Okay, first of all, he’s gorgeous,” Majors told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s got that f***ing jawline, and he didn’t give a f***. He threw his body around. He was so full. And I went, ‘I’m coming for that. I’m inspired.’ It takes a lot, you feel me? To be inspired.”
This isn’t the first time Majors has heaped praise on The Dark Knight. Last year, he wrote about the movie in more detail for Variety:
"And the film asks what it is to be human, what it is to be alive and to participate fully in one’s own living. The Dark Knight’ etches so vividly the agnostic morality of survival and the discipline of goodness. Nolan’s second installment of the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy holds in its run time an impregnable truth: Life and people are beautifully complicated and evolving."
Jonathan Majors now plays Kang the Conqueror, the MCU’s biggest villain!
Before stepping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jonathan Majors was best known for his roles in Lovecraft Country and The Harder They Fall. He made his Marvel debut as Kang the Conqueror He Who Remains in the season finale of Loki, but he’ll step things up in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Chaos awaits.
Kang promises to be the next Thanos-level villain of the franchise. In fact, the next Avengers movie, set for 2025, is called The Kang Dynasty. For now, he’s squaring off against Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, and apparently things get pretty bloody. “They had to tone it down,” Rudd told Access Hollywood about the amount of blood visible on his face after one fight scene. “They’re like, ‘You know what, this is a little too much.'”
Majors is very aware of what’s in store and he can’t wait to get stuck in. “I’m entering into something that is so massive, so mega,” he told EW. “I’m humbled, I’m excited. I’m full of energy for it. I have an undying passion for it, and I know I’m not doing it alone.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premieres on February 17. The era of Kang begins.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels