Destin Daniel Cretton has opened up about his rocky history with Marvel Studios after his planned film was scrapped.
Cretton joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the director and co-writer of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). Starring Simu Liu alongside the likes of Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, and Tony Leung, the film received positive reviews and grossed more than $430 million worldwide – an impressive feat in the early post-pandemic cinematic era.
Marvel subsequently expanded its relationship with Cretton. He began developing a Shang-Chi sequel, helped create the Disney+ series Wonder Man, and was selected to direct the next major Avengers film.
In 2024, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that Cretton would direct Spider-Man: Brand New Day, starring Tom Holland. Now, Cretton has explained how the cancellation of his Avengers project led to him taking over the Spider-Man franchise.
Marvel Canceled Cretton’s Avengers Film
Cretton was originally hired to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which was planned as the follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
The film was expected to center on Kang the Conqueror and his Variants, played by Jonathan Majors. Marvel had already introduced different versions of the character in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
However, the project faced uncertainty during the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023. Speaking to IndieWire, Cretton said he questioned whether the film would ever move forward.
“The whole time during the strike, I was wondering if this thing was going to happen,” he said. “When that wound up falling through, yeah, I was sad.”
Majors was fired by Marvel Studios in December 2023 after being convicted of one assault charge and a harassment violation. Marvel later dropped The Kang Dynasty and announced Avengers: Doomsday in its place.
The Russo Brothers will direct the replacement film, which is scheduled to hit theaters in December 2026 and released its first full-length trailer earlier this week. Robert Downey Jr. will return to the MCU as Doctor Doom, replacing Kang as the central antagonist.
Cretton did not directly discuss Majors or Marvel’s decision to abandon the Kang storyline. He instead said he tries “not to hang my emotions too much about circumstances outside of my control.”
He was initially concerned that losing the Avengers project could affect his relationship with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
“When ‘Avengers’ wasn’t going to happen, I was a little bit scared that my relationship with Kevin maybe was going to change,” Cretton said. “But it didn’t at all.”
Spider-Man Quickly Entered the Conversation
Cretton said Marvel began discussing other projects with him on the same day that The Kang Dynasty fell apart. Spider-Man was one of the possibilities raised during those conversations.
“On the day that wasn’t going to work out, we were talking about what could work out,” Cretton said. “And Spidey was mentioned, but it wasn’t like an offer by any means. It took a bit before that happened.”
He added, “From the inside looking out, it’s not nearly as dramatic as it is from the outside looking in.”
Cretton was later officially hired to direct Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Holland’s fourth solo Spider-Man film in the MCU. He replaces Jon Watts, who directed Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Marvel and Sony have not announced fifth or sixth Spider-Man films. However, Holland is widely expected to continue playing Peter Parker beyond Brand New Day, potentially completing a second MCU trilogy.
Cretton also remains involved with Shang-Chi 2, although the sequel does not yet have a release date. He recently told Rolling Stone that he was “talking to Dave Callaham, our writer, about it just a few weeks ago, so fingers crossed.”
Liu previously said that Cretton’s Spider-Man commitments had not disrupted plans for the sequel.
“I don't think anything's been impacted,” he said. “I think we're all — I speak to Destin often and there's nothing coming out of both of us but excitement to make this film.”
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