Jonathan Majors Roars Back With Daily Wire Action Thriller That Goes Full Red Dawn

Jonathan Majors is officially in comeback mode, and he is going all-in on action. The newest move: an untitled thriller from The Daily Wire, the conservative media outfit that has been staffing up on film projects. Filming is underway, the plot sounds like something you could sketch on a napkin, and the supporting cast is set.

The new thriller: filming now

The project is positioned as an 80s/90s throwback in the Red Dawn/Toy Soldiers mold. The promo line does not play coy:

'When threats strike the heart of the homeland, American warriors rise with unbreakable grit and unrelenting firepower to defend what makes this country worth fighting for.'

Kyle Rankin is writing and directing, and this marks Majors first role to actually go before cameras since his 2023 legal fallout.

Supporting cast

• David Lucas (Kill Tony)
• JC Kilcoyne (Fix You)
• Tyler Aser (The Mystery Of Her)
• James Bingham (Swagger)
• Savanna Leigh James (The Bold and the Beautiful)
• Stephen Hailo (S.W.A.T.)
• Myles Clohessy (Frontier Crucible)
• Travis Mills (The Pendragon Cycle)
• Darby Cappillino (singer-songwriter)

How Majors got here

Majors broke big with HBO's Lovecraft Country, then stacked attention-grabbing work: Netflix's all-star Western The Harder They Fall, the fighter pilot drama Devotion, the acclaimed Magazine Dreams, and Creed III. Marvel put him on an even bigger launchpad as Kang the Conqueror, introduced in Loki and then positioned as the main antagonist of the Multiverse Saga after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Everything flipped in 2023. He was arrested on assault, strangulation, and harassment charges, later convicted of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment, and accused by multiple other women. Marvel cut ties, other projects followed, and he was pulled from major campaigns, including one for the U.S. Army.

The rest of the action pivot

The Daily Wire film is one of three shoot-em-up plays in the queue. In Merciless, from director Martin Villeneuve (yes, Denis Villeneuve's younger brother), Majors stars as a top CIA interrogator who goes even darker after the woman he loves is overtaken by a malevolent force. The title alone does his PR no favors, but you get the lane he is choosing.

He also leads True Threat as a character named Venon Threat, a father who goes to war after his teenage son is murdered by a Harlem gang called The Apollo Kids. Inspired by The Raid, the story has him storming The Carter, a 20-story project building that serves as the gang's fortress, fighting floor by floor to face the boss — who also happens to be his former mentor. Subtle, this is not.

Put it all together and Majors is clearly aiming to reset his public image by muscling into straight-ahead action-hero territory. Whether audiences sign on is the real cliffhanger here, but the strategy is set and the cameras are rolling.