The world premiere of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was last night in Los Angeles. The film comes out in less than two weeks. Which means Jonathan Majors is EVERYWHERE. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly are the stars, but as we saw with Devotion and Glen Powell, when Majors is around, he eats his lunch and everyone else’s, too. It’s not even something he tries to do, he’s just got that thing, that major star thing. Anyone who has seen Majors perform and is remotely interested in either the craft of acting or the business of celebrity is aware he will be major in both arenas, both an admired artist of his generation, and a huge star. Ten years ago, we saw this developing with the arrivals of Chadwick Boseman, and just before him was Jennifer Lawrence. More recently, we noticed Ana de Armas on the come up. 

 

We often say we don’t mint Movie Stars like we used to, and by and large, that is true. But those major talents still arrive, and we still notice them, and they still dominate the celebrity gossip space when they do. We want to know Who They Are, and Who They Will Be. With three films this year, including two blockbusters with Quantumania and Creed III, Majors has plenty of space to tell us who he is. This week, he covers both MR. PORTER’S The Journal and Ebony, and he builds on what we learned of him from last year’s (super thirsty) Men’s Health profile. He is thoughtful, he is serious yet charming, he is, apparently, into poetry and is working on a book of his own poems. The risk of being perceived in poetry is SO high, but he is taking it. 

 

I get the sense, tracking Majors’ rise these last few years, that he considers every move like a chess player. That comes through in his tandem profiles this month, and feeds into his new work, the Sidney Poitier Initiative, in conjunction with the Gotham Film and Media Institute, on which board he serves. Last year, following Poitier’s death, Majors wrote him an open letter, expressing how much Poitier inspired him, and now Majors is hoping to pay that forward by creating a kind of networking mentorship for Black and marginalized creatives to figure out how to navigate the industry, to get not just the first job, but the fourth, fifth, and sixth ones, too. Majors hasn’t even finished his own ascent, and he’s already sending the elevator back down to bring others up with him. 

But he also talks about being a #GirlDad in both interviews, which should make the “my ovaries” crowd happy. And this is where “Jonathan Majors: Celebrity” is developing—he’s a hot dad. And not like an As Seen On TV hot dad like Pedro Pascal, but a real one. He’s cagey about his daughter, which is fine and arguably a good idea for a Famous Parent who doesn’t want that spotlight interrupting their child’s life, but he talks about reading with her in The Journal interview and having her memorize poetry. In Ebony, he talks about supporting her and the values he’s trying to teach her. He doesn’t name her, he doesn’t overindulge in the parent talk, but it’s present enough that Jonathan Majors: Hot Dad is going to be a thing. 

 

We’re still at the start of Jonathan Majors’ mainstream arrival. Between all of his movies this year, and several more Marvel movies still on the docket—and, I will not be shocked, an Oscar run for Magazine Dreams—he will be very busy for the next few years, at least. His profile will continue to grow, but his celebrity is not yet set in stone. What is emerging, though, is a serious, thoughtful man who softens his edge of Intense Artist with style, charm, and by being a Hot Dad, and a Dog Dad—a Hot Dog Dad. It’s going to be interesting to see how much of this early celebrity building sticks as his fame continues to grow. 

Source