Captain America actor, Anthony Mackie has reacted to fellow Marvel actor Jonathan Majors’ assault and harassment charges.
The 44-year-old movie star, in an interview with Inverse for a profile said “nothing has been proven” yet in Majors’ criminal case brought against him in New York City, in which he is expected to stand trial this August.
“We’re a country that was built on ‘everyone is innocent until proven guilty,’ “ the actor said, as the outlet raised the topic of Majors’ potential future as Kang the Conquerer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“That’s one of the staples of this country. Nothing has been proven about this dude. Nothing,” Mackie told the outlet. “So everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That’s all I can say. It’s crazy where we are as a society. But as a country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”
The 33-year-old Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actor was arrested in New York on 25 March over an alleged domestic violence incident.
Though Majors was charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment, his defense attorneys have insisted they hold “irrefutable evidence” that the alleged victim in the incident “is lying” about the facts of the case.
Majors last appeared at Manhattan Criminal Court on 20 June; he filed his own domestic violence complaint against the alleged victim in the case the following day, Insider reported.
In the complaint, Majors claimed the “drunk and hysterical” woman caused him pain and bleeding after the alleged assault, according to Insider, which obtained a copy of the report and a sworn affidavit. The actor also alleged in the report that the woman had attacked him in previous incidents, though he said he did not file reports in the past.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office declined PEOPLE’s request for comment earlier this week, while NYPD confirmed its investigation into the incident is ongoing.
With Majors’ criminal trial still to come, his future in upcoming Marvel Studios projects remains unclear; his character is expected to appear in both the upcoming second season of the Disney+ series Loki and as the villain in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, currently scheduled for release on 1 May, 2026.
Back in April, multiple outlets reported that Majors was taken out of consideration for roles in multiple upcoming films after the charges were filed.
Meanwhile, Mackie will lead his own Marvel movie in the forthcoming Captain America: Brave New World, scheduled for 26 July, 2024.
“There’s a huge amount of pressure,” Mackie told Inverse of expectations placed upon him as Marvel’s next Captain America.
“You throw my dumb a– in the water, and you’re like, ‘Swim.’ I’m like, ‘S—.’ But at the same time, it’s all in the state of mind. I’ve been given a great cast. I’ve been given a great group of people who I’ve worked with before.”