Marvel Studios is turning to a familiar face to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton will board the fifth Avengers film slated to help close out Phase 6. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was officially announced during the Marvel Studios Panel at San Diego Comic-Con, with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announcing The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars will wrap up Phase 6. The only other movie confirmed for the Phase is the highly-anticipated Fantastic Four.
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Destin Daniel Cretton helped introduce audiences to Shang-Chi, played by Simu Liu. A sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is also in development, with Cretton attached to direct. He is also rumored to be overseeing a Wonder Man series for Disney+ with Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community). The filmmaker has an overall deal with Marvel.
Not much is currently known regarding Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, aside from its release date of May 2, 2025. However, it is very likely that Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror will be the main villain considering the film is named after the character. Majors debuted as the Kang variant He Who Remains in the Season 1 finale of Loki, and will return as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which kicks off Phase 5.
Other directorial announcements were also made for three more Marvel films. Mahershala Ali’s Blade will be directed by Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli); Captain America: New World Order‘s director is Julius Onah (Luce), and Jake Schreier (Paper Towns) is directing Thunderbolts.
ComicBook.com spoke to Cretton regarding the post-credits scene for Shang-Chi, which included Avengers’ Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), who couldn’t be physically in the same place as Simu Liu and Awkwafina due to COVID-19 protocols.
“They were holograms practically because those characters would not be able to be in that same room in the [Marvel Cinematic Universe], because of what they are up to in other areas of the MCU,” Cretton said on ComicBook‘s Phase Zero podcast. “They were also holograms because there’s no way with COVID that we could have got those actors together. So we were not in the same room. So when you see Simu performing, he’s [looking at something else].”
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