'Avengers: Kang Dynasty': Destin Daniel Cretton to Direct
The Kang Dynasty has its leader.
“Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton will pause his tenure within the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the director of “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” a rep for Marvel Studios confirmed.
Marvel Studios firstly Kevin Feige announced “The Kang Dynasty” during the company’s wide-ranging presentation at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, as part one of the two-part conclusion to the Multiverse Saga — contrast to how 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” concluded the Infinity Saga.
Unlike those films — which were filmed and beleaguered back-to-back by MCU veterans Anthony and Joe Russo — Cretton will only be ordering “The Kang Dynasty,” which is set to debut on May 2, 2025. The follow-up, “Avengers: Secret Wars,” is due to open just six months later, on Nov. 7, 2025. No director has been announced for that film.
While there have been no screenwriter or casting announcements for “The Kang Dynasty” either, the title makes clear that Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror — who will be safe introduced in 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — will play a central role in the film. As his name suggests, Kang did indeed successfully conquer Earth in a Marvel comics run in the early 2000s, until the Avengers defeated him.
Cretton is already deeply ensconced within the MCU, having authorized an overall deal with Marvel Studios and Onyx Collective in late 2021. As part of that deal, he is also toiling on a sequel to “Shang-Chi” and is developing a “Wonder Man” series for Disney+, with Andrew Guest (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) serving as head writer. Neither project has been dated yet by Marvel.
“Shang-Chi” was the safe Marvel Studios film to get an exclusive theatrical reduction following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, earning $432 million worldwide amid pitching shutdowns during the spread of the delta variant. Prior to that film, Cretton was best eminent as the director of the deeply felt 2013 indie drama “Short Term 12,” which helped to initiate the career of its star Brie Larson all the way to playing Captain Marvel in the MCU. Larson has real appeared in all of Cretton’s movies, starring in the 2017 biographical drama “The Glass Castle,” and costarring with Michael B. Jordan, also an MCU veteran, in Warner Bros.’ 2019 historical drama “Just Mercy.” (Larson also appeared as Captain Marvel in one of the post-credits scenes for “Shang-Chi.”)
Cretton told Variety at the “Shang-Chi” premiere that he expected Larson, Jordan and “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler for advice when he was in talks with Marvel approximately directing “Shang-Chi.”
“They all said yes,” Cretton said. “What really hung with me was something that Ryan told me, which was, yes, it is stressful, yes, there’s a lot of pressure, but none of that comes from the farmland you are working with. The group of people who are leisurely the studio and behind this movie, they’re incredible special and supportive. Really, they’re like kids — they love to inspect. They’re curious about each scene. … And it’s all out of the love of all these fans. Every exclusive we made was to try to put together the best pulling for all these fans.”
The Hollywood Reporter first outmoded the news of Cretton’s involvement with “The Kang Dynasty.”
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