Marvel Hires Director for 'Shang-Chi' Movie

The future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is starting to come into focus, and it includes Kung-Fu hero Shang-Chi.

There had been reports that Marvel Studios was looking to make a Shang-Chi movie in the near future, but now it seems those grumblings have taken a major step forward. On Wednesday, Deadline reported that Marvel had hired Asian-American filmmaker Destin Cretton to direct the new film.

Much like Black Panther utilized a nearly all-black cast and crew, including director Ryan Coogler and writer Joe Robert Cole, Shang-Chi will do the same for Asian and Asian American culture.

When the first reports of the Shang-Chi film first arrived, it was clear that Dave Callaham had already been hired to write the screenplay. Callaham's impressive resume includes co-writing the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 and Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel.

The average film fan may not know Dustin Cretton's name, but anyone who follows the indie circuit will likely get excited for this hire. Cretton is best known for Short Term 12, the 2013 indie darling that helped launch the careers of Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Rami Malek, and Stephanie Beatriz.

Interestingly enough, by the time he begins work on Shang-Chi, Cretton will have worked with Captain Marvel's Brie Larson on two separate projects. In addition to Short Term 12, Cretton's latest film Just Mercy also features Larson in a leading role, this time opposite fellow MCU standout Michael B. Jordan. The movie doesn't arrive until 2020, but Cretton clearly has strong ties to one of the Marvel juggernaut's brightest new stars.

What do you think of this new Shang-Chi film? Let us know in the comments!

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