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Majors Misstep? ‘The Black Watch’ Talks Jonathan Majors’ Controversial Comeback & ‘Run Hide Fight: Infidels’
- Majors’ legal troubles have derailed his promising Hollywood rise, raising doubts about his future projects.
- Majors’ association with conservative media outlet The Daily Wire on his new film raises ethical concerns.
- Experts question whether Majors’ professional decisions could negatively impact his supportive wife Meagan Good.
Run, hide, fight…or reconsider?
Jonathan Majors’ latest attempt at a Hollywood comeback is causing controversy before it even hits screens, and BOSSIP and Cassius have copious questions.
Today, the brands released a new episode of The Black Watch, an editorial-led series examining the biggest cultural moments in film and entertainment through thoughtful discussion and cultural commentary.
This week’s episode brings together BOSSIP Managing Editor Dani Canada, iOne Digital Director of Content for the Men’s Division Alvin Blanco, executive producer Serita Wesley, and comedian-writer Carl Foreman Jr. for a spirited conversation about Jonathan Majors’ career, his rise from acclaimed indie actor to would-be Marvel heavyweight, and the controversial project marking his latest attempt at a professional comeback.
“Run Hide Fight: Infidels is the name of the upcoming action thriller starring Jonathan Majors, but it’s also what you might want to do after watching the trailer,” says Dani, kicking off the conversation.
Before diving into the new film, the panel looks back at a time when Majors seemed poised to become one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
After earning attention with The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Majors continued his ascent with HBO’s Lovecraft Country, Netflix’s The Harder They Fall, Creed III, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he was positioned to play Kang the Conqueror across multiple projects.
For Serita, Majors made an impression from the beginning.
“I saw The Last Black Man in San Francisco in the movie theater,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, he’s an ACTOR.’”
Alvin’s introduction came through Lovecraft Country, which immediately convinced him that Majors had major potential.
“I loved him in Lovecraft Country, and I was like, ‘Yo, this is the bomb. He’s gonna be the future of Black cinema,’” he said, before also praising Majors’ performance in The Harder They Fall.
“He was poised to be Kang the Conqueror and get all the bags,” Alvin added. “And then he fumbled the bag for all of the wrong reasons.”
Carl also first encountered Majors in The Last Black Man in San Francisco and remembered immediately noticing the actor despite the film centering on another character.
“I was like, ‘This guy. This guy,’” he recalled.
As a fellow MFA-trained actor, Carl said he was particularly excited to see a Black American, non-British actor, with classical training receiving prominent opportunities–but now it’s clear that he’s had quite the fall from grace.
“I feel like he’s the Anakin Skywalker of Black actors,” said Carl. “You were supposed to be the one. You were supposed to be the one, and now look at you.”
As previously reported Majors’ trajectory dramatically changed following that 2023 arrest and subsequent conviction on misdemeanor assault and harassment charges. In the aftermath, Marvel Studios dropped the actor as Kang, and Majors also lost representation and other professional opportunities.
Run Hide Fight: Infidels is a standalone follow-up to Run Hide Fight, the controversial 2020 school-shooting thriller distributed by The Daily Wire. The new film has already drawn criticism over its depiction of Muslims and accusations that its premise traffics in Islamophobic stereotypes.
According to Serita’, Majors’ association with The Daily Wire was enough to raise concerns.
“I think it’s definitely Islamophobic,” she said. “And also, The Daily Wire. I mean, come on.”
“It’s the ultimate opps movie,” added Alvin.
“I know, listen, you gotta make money. I get it. Money gotta be made,” she added. “But, I mean, damn. I don’t know. It feels like a betrayal.”
Carl agreed that accepting work after a career-altering controversy is understandable, but argued that not every opportunity is worth taking.
“As soon as you’re associated with Ben Shapiro, it’s enormous red flags,” he said, arguing that Shapiro is “no friend to anybody who’s on the side of general liberation of oppressed people.”
“These things live forever,” he added. “You will have always done this movie. Not all money is good money.
Alvin questioned who, if anyone, was advising Majors as he plotted his return to acting, likening him to Herschel Walker and Ben Carson, who’ve been exploited by conservatives.
“You’re choosing this movie from Ben Shapiro, of all the people,” he said. “They’re clearly propping you up, using you, exploiting you,” said Alvin.
The panel also wondered whether Majors’ professional decisions could create unwanted blowback for his wife, Meagan Good, who has publicly supported her husband during and after his scandal.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Alvin responded, noting that Good’s relationship with Majors inevitably makes her part of the public conversation surrounding him.
Dani agreed that the situation was unfortunate given how deeply committed Good appears to be to her marriage.
“Meagan is so in love with this man, and I can say that because I talked to Meg on the set of Reasonable Doubt,” she said. “We were talking about something else, and she was like, ‘Yeah, my husband did this.’ I was like, ‘Whoa, she is in very deep.’”
Ultimately, the group returns to the question looming over Majors since his conviction: Can he still rebuild his career?
Alvin argued that audiences, particularly Black audiences, have historically been receptive to genuine comeback stories, and that Majors’ talent could have provided a relatively straightforward route toward one.
“Everybody loves a comeback story,” he said. “All he had to do was sit down, be quiet, and just act. Do a good movie. Go do some indie films. You’re good enough of an actor to do that.”
Instead, the panel worries that Run Hide Fight: Infidels could make the road back significantly harder.
“When you see this trailer, and you see what he’s part of, it’s just unacceptable,” Alvin said.
Serita similarly questioned whether audiences who were previously willing to give Majors another chance might now be reaching their limit.
“I think we were trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, trying to root for him,” she said. “And then it’s kind of like, all right, now you just keep doing stuff that is making it worse.”
For her, the decisions surrounding Run Hide Fight: Infidels have also created a larger question about the actor himself.
“You don’t know who he is, what his integrity is, what he actually stands for,” she said. “And that’s where it gets weird to me.”
Whether Run Hide Fight: Infidels becomes the beginning of Jonathan Majors’ Hollywood comeback or another complication in an already turbulent career remains to be seen.
Watch the latest episode of The Black Watch below.
