‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ Loses Director Destin Daniel Cretton
Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” has dropped out of directing “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” an individual with knowledge told IndieWire.
Cretton remains attached to direct the sequel to “Shang-Chi” and is also at work as the co-creator of the Disney+ series “Wonder Man” also for Marvel Studios. He’s an executive producer on the show and directed the first two episodes.
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The individual says Cretton’s exit is amicable. Cretton will resume shooting “Wonder Man” after Thanksgiving, and as Deadline first reported, he’s even said to be in talks to direct future Marvel movies.
It’s the latest in a multiverse worth of drama for Marvel, which had a box office worst with “The Marvels” and recently delayed all of its 2024 movies, most of them to 2025, as a result of the strikes. And it leaves “The Kang Dynasty,” currently slated for release on May 1, 2026, without a director.
Still unclear is if the movie even has a star, as Jonathan Majors, who plays the villain Kang, awaits trial in New York on assault and harassment charges. No decision has been made about Majors’ role in the MCU, and the actor has denied any wrongdoing. But his character Kang — or He Who Remains — was a focal point of the second season of “Loki,” which just had its season finale last week.
Cretton broke out in the indie world with 2013’s “Short Term 12” starring Brie Larson, and he also directed Michael B. Jordan in “Just Mercy” before jumping on the Marvel train. “Shang-Chi” in the still pandemic-addled 2021 made $432 million at the global box office and made a star out of Simu Liu.
Deadline first reported the news of Cretton’s exit.
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