Loki saw the god of mischief and Sylvie working to uncover who was behind the TVA and the constant rewriting of time. For showrunners, it was very important to have the right actor ready when it came time for the big reveal.
Loki and Sylvie found their puppet master in the form of He Who Remains, a charismatic charlatan played by Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country, Da 5 Bloods). He revealed that he not just the "devil" the two take him to be, but that everything he created and maintained was for the sake of the universe, preventing war and chaos. This called for an actor who could portray this complex duality. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, director Kate Herron said that with Majors' casting, executives knew that they were "gonna be in really safe hands."
Herron said that the character's appeal of He Who Remains was the easy part, the writing bearing the brunt of the work there. The issue was that bringing the character to life would be challenging since it had to be just right. The director said that the actor needed a "presence that immediately grabs you, because not every actor can do that." Luckily, as she puts it, "Jonathan is one of the best actors out there."
The interview with Herron revealed that she was involved in the casting of Majors when he auditioned for Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. "I was so excited that I got to be part of the conversation about the casting of his character with the studio and Peyton [Reed, Ant & The Wasp: Quantumania's director]," she said. "It was a massive honor and very exciting."
Speaking on Majors, Herron said, "He's just an actor that we all loved." Since the role of who was behind the curtain of the Time Keepers was still being formulated, the director knew she wanted to bring Majors into Loki as He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror. Majors showed he could handle both roles as he was auditioning. "We sent him the art of all the characters and it was really fun [because] he was sending us all of these different voices he could do for each character, which was great," she said.
He Who Remains is not the terrifying conqueror that fans all know, but the actor needed to play both of these variants and illustrate the complexities and vast differences between the two. Herron said that Majors "just commands attention" and described him as an "amazing character actor," making him the perfect choice to take on the responsibility. She was also thrilled that Loki was where fans could first be introduced to him in the MCU.
The entire first season of Loki is now available to stream on Disney+. While Herron directed the cast, including Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino and others for the first season, she will not be returning for Season 2, which has yet to receive an official release date. Majors will return to the MCU as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, set to release on Feb. 17, 2023.
Source: Entertainment Weekly