‘Spider-Man 4’ Eyes ‘Shang-Chi’ Director Destin Daniel Cretton
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will keep swinging in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton in early talks to helm the film.
In addition to the Simu Liu-led “Shang-Chi,” Cretton’s other credits 2013’s “Short Term 12,” 2017’s “The Glass Castle” and 2019’s “Just Mercy.” He was previously set to direct the now-scrapped “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” but departed the project in Nov. 2023.
More from Variety
The ending to 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” saw Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange cast a spell that caused the entire world to forget that Peter Parker had been Spider-Man, which also included his two closest friends MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon). This capped off the three-film trilogy helmed by director Jon Watts, who made the original Holland-starring film “Spider-Man: Homecoming” in 2017 and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” in 2019.
No further details about the fourth film in the franchise have been revealed yet, but the news confirms that Holland is locked in for another go as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, after he shared during press interviews leading up to “No Way Home” that he had reservations about playing the character for the long haul — especially leading into his 30s.
The relationship between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment has at times been a tumultuous one. There was a brief period in late 2019 where the two entities reached an impasse about the future of the character in the MCU, and their agreement was temporarily called off. They came to a resolution shortly after, followed by the “No Way Home” crossover extravaganza that brought previous Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield into the MCU.
Sony and Marvel had no comment. The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the Cretton news.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
