Jonathan Majors is on fire right now. The actor is quickly rising to the ranks of superstardom, successfully pulling off back–to-back number one hits at the box office in a feat that few have accomplished in their careers. First, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," in which Majors plays the villain Kang the Conquerer, opened up to a domestic total of $104 million, and despite its steep drop in the follow-up weeks, the film remains in second place in the box office charts. The film knocking it out of the number one spot? "Creed III," also starring Jonathan Majors in the antagonistic role of Damian "Dame" Anderson.
Majors has been putting in the work, too. His performances have been turning heads since 2019, when he starred in "The Last Black Man in San Francisco," as the eccentric but kind-hearted Mont Allen. The film was a small indie affair that gained widespread acclaim and was at the top of many an Oscar snubs list that year. Since then, Majors' recognition has rapidly evolved, capturing the attention of Netflix viewers with Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" and the Western "The Harder They Fall" as well as starring in HBO's Emmy-nominated "Lovecraft Country" series.
The rise and reign of Majors shows no signs of stopping either, as he also received praise for his performance in the Sundance premiere of Elijah Bynum's psychological drama "Magazine Dreams," and is slated to appear alongside Willem Defoe in the adaptation of Walter Mosley's novel "The Man in My Basement" and reportedly as Dennis Rodman in the Phil Lord and Chris Miller-produced "48 Hours in Vegas."
A Major(s) Success
Majors wasn't the only factor in the box office success of "Quantumania" and "Creed III," but his presence still arguably played a key role in their dominance. His surprise appearance as He Who Remains in the season finale of the Disney+ series "Loki" garnered major hype for the debut of that character's evil variant, Kang the Conquerer, the MCU's new main threat. In addition, he joined Michael B. Jordan in the heavy marketing campaign for "Creed III," building anticipation for the anime-inspired fight scenes between the two. Majors isn't the lead in either feature, but audiences at least recognized his face plastered all over the promotional material.
Comparatively, Jessica Chastain conquered the box office in Janaury 2013 when her Oscar-nominated role in "Zero Dark Thirty" was followed by the PG-13 horror film "Mama," as did Leonardo DiCaprio in March 1998 when "The Man in the Iron Mask" opened up to second place behind "Titanic" in its 13th week in theaters.
There's an argument to be made that a big name actor isn't a surefire ticket to box office gold anymore. Marvel movies are almost always guaranteed to post big numbers, and "Quantumania" is a major entry in the MCU as the start of MCU's Phase Five. Likewise, "Creed III" follows a long line of "Rocky" films, although its success proves Michael B. Jordan's Apollo Creed can bring audiences to the theater without the help of Sylvester Stallone. Still, Majors' speedy rise to high-profile status makes it difficult to chalk up his box office numbers to franchise appeal alone. It'll be a long time before audiences forget who Majors is since he's poised to continue his hot streak. If anything, he'll end the year even bigger than he was at the beginning.
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