Anthony Mackie Comes Out In Support Of Jonathan Majors
Anthony Mackie thinks Jonathan Majors should be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
In the original Marvel comics, it would have been pretty shocking to see a team-up between the heroic Falcon and the villainous Kang the Conqueror. But in real life, the actors bringing these characters to life for the silver screen are much tighter, and this has led to one of the first prominent MCU actors to weigh in on the recent legal drama concerning Jonathan Majors. According to Variety, Anthony Mackie has come out in support of Jonathan Majors, stating simply, “We’re a country that was built on ‘everyone is innocent until proven guilty.’”
As you can probably tell, Anthony Mackie isn’t exactly voicing full-throated support for Jonathan Majors, nor is he claiming that Majors is innocent of his alleged crimes. Instead, he is simply pointing out that Majors is in the middle of an unfolding court case, one that has already had many surprising twists and turns. Mackie would rather everyone wait for a verdict, and he pointed out that “Nothing has been proven about this dude.”
If you were expecting to hear Anthony Mackie or any other big names in the MCU say much more than this about Jonathan Majors, you shouldn’t hold your breath. While Mackie didn’t really say that much, he did claim that pointing out that everyone is innocent until proven guilty is “all I can say” about the matter.
While this is just speculation, we think this might be quite literal: it would not be surprising if Bob Iger and Kevin Feige have instructed all MCU actors to not say anything one way or another that could make the company look bad after a verdict comes in.
Unfortunately for everyone involved (from Anthony Mackie and Jonathan Majors to major Disney executives and shareholders), the protracted legal drama doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon. Jonathan Majors was arrested back on March 25 for alleged domestic violence against a 30-year-old woman, and charges of assault and aggravated harassment were later added.
But Majors didn’t actually appear in court until June 20, and despite his lawyer claiming they have definitive evidence that Majors was attacked and not the other way around, we won’t know the full scope of this alleged evidence until the Marvel star’s trial date of August 3.
Therefore, Anthony Mackie has every reason to be circumspect about his comments regarding Jonathan Majors: the proper trial won’t start for more than a month, and there is no telling exactly how long it will last.
If any actors were to definitively condemn or support Majors before the verdict, it could affect the public perception of Disney, which needs all the help it can get after audiences gave such a lukewarm reception to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion. And of course, making the House of Mouse look bad could cause Mackie and others to lose those juicy, juicy MCU contracts.
Ultimately, though, nobody can deny that Anthony Mackie was speaking the truth about Jonathan Majors. While fans and various media outlets rushed to condemn the actor based on allegations, it’s possible that his lawyer is correct and that evidence may fully exonerate Majors of any allegations against him.
Until a verdict is reached, we won’t know whether it will be Majors who squares off against the Avengers in the future or if Feige will simply replace him with a “Variant” actor.
