Sometimes, you have too many irons in the fire and must take one out and let it cool. According to Deadline, Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer helming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty for Marvel Studios. Deadline says they hear Cretton’s exit is amicable, with the in-demand filmmaker remaining in the Marvel family for Wonder Man and Shang-Chi 2. Thankfully, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is years away from hitting theaters, giving Marvel ample time to reassign the Infinity War-level project to another director. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty releases on May 1, 2026, setting up Avengers: Secret Wars for May 7, 2027. The two event-driven films end the MCU’s Phase 6 timeline.
Cretton remains a creative force on Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man, which he co-created with Andrew Guest, who serves as showrunner. Cretton executive produces Wonder Man, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. Filming for the Disney+ series falls under the studio’s newly established Marvel Spotlight banner, specializing in films and television series outside MCU continuity.
In addition to Wonder Man, Cretton is busy planning Shang-Chi 2, after the original starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, and Michelle Yeoh scored $432M+ at the global box office.
Yesterday, ComicBook.com reported that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty writer Jeff Loveness is no longer attached to the project. The outlet also says Marvel is pivoting away from using Kang as the MCU’s next Thanos-level villain as Kang actor Jonathan Majors continues to face legal troubles. This development comes after Loki’s second season finale on Disney+, which saw the return of a Kang variant, He Who Remains, portrayed by Majors. As the Majors controversy hit before this season, many wondered if Marvel would alter the narrative in any way. The show’s executive producer, Kevin Wright, insists the show remained as planned despite the lingering trial, “The story that is on screen is the one that we set out to make, remarkably so. No one was coming down telling us we had to connect or set up anything for the future. It was sort of like, ‘Finish our story that we started.’ As far as where it’s all going, I can’t say. Not because I’m being coy, [but because] we’re not part of those projects.”
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