Destin Daniel Cretton Departs As Director On ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’; Remains Aboard ‘Wonder Man’, ‘Shang-Chi 2’ & More In MCU

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline hears that filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton has decided to step away as director of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Kang Dynasty to focus on his other Marvel projects. This is an amicable exit, I understand, as Cretton remains fully in the Marvel Studios family.

In fact, Cretton is in talks with Marvel Studios about directing future movies.

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Note that Avengers: Kang Dynasty is far on the theatrical release schedule, dated to kick off summer on May 1, 2026. The movie will precede Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027 which will wrap up the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 6 features.

Cretton is currently busy on the Marvel Studios/Disney+ series Wonder Man, which he co-created with Andrew Guest, who serves as showrunner. Cretton EPs the series and also directed the first two episodes. The series resumes shooting after Thanksgiving. Wonder Man will be under the new Marvel Spotlight series banner, which are shows that are standalone series and not part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The filmmaker is also currently working on the sequel to the $432M-plus global grossing hit he directed, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. That movie is the highest grossing AAPI superhero movie ever and also owns the record opening over the 4-day Labor Day holiday weekend with $94.6M stateside.

RELATED: Marvel Unveils Two New Avengers Movies For 2025 To End MCU Phase 6

In 2021, following the success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Cretton signed an overall deal with Marvel Studios & Hulu’s Onyx Collective.

Cretton is an EP on the hit Disney+ series, American Born Chinese, which he also directed two episodes of. Cretton blasted off with the 2013 indie movie Short Term 12 which also propelled Brie Larson before she won the Best Actress Oscar for Room and went on to star in the $1.1 billion grossing Captain Marvel. In addition, Rami Malek starred in Short Term 12 as well before winning a Best Actor Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody and a Best Actor Drama Series Emmy for Mr. Robot. Cretton also directed the Jamie Foxx-Michael B. Jordan-Larson legal drama, Just Mercy, about world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson.

Cretton is repped by Pangea-Media, WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

Marvel Studios have delivered $30 billion at the global box office from 33 titles since 2008.

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