Destin Daniel Cretton Sheds 'Avengers: Kang Dynasty' From MCU Workload

The 'Shang-Chi' director is still working on its sequel and the 'Wonder Man' series

Destin Daniel Cretton will not be directing the fifth Avengers film, currently titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (there’s been some rumblings about an overhaul that will not be entertained here until it’s validated). This departure comes in favor of his other projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, namely the sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and the Wonder Man series.

Not only will he still be making those projects, but he’s also in talks with Marvel Studios about directing future films. Cretton co-created Wonder Man with Andrew Guest, who serves as showrunner. He also serves as an executive producer and directed the first two episodes. The series resumes shooting after Thanksgiving, and is the second confirmed series to be under the Marvel Spotlight banner. The series currently stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Demetrius Grosse, and Ben Kingsley, reprising his role as Trevor Slattery. Cretton is also an executive producer on the Disney+ series American Born Chinese.

Returning to work on the Shang-Chi sequel means it hasn’t been abandoned. If one were a betting man, he wants to get enough progress on it so that it can be publicly announced at the very least, something that has very prominently not happened yet, making up the time that the writers had not gotten their new contract yet. Put it in a position where it doesn’t have to keep getting pushed back, as star Simu Liu described shortly before SAG-AFTRA itself began its fight for their own new contract. The first film grossed $432 million worldwide, the most for any Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) superhero film ever. Its success earned Cretton an overall deal with Marvel Studios & Hulu’s Onyx Collective.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty isn’t scheduled for release until May 1, 2026 and will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both were delayed in June, with The Kang Dynasty moving into Secret Wars’s 2026 spot from an identical summer kickoff spot in 2025 that is now held by Fantastic Four. Regardless of what comes between them, Secret Wars, which does not have a director yet, will wrap up the MCU’s Phase 6.

Source: Deadline