With the Kang Dynasty dead, Destin Daniel Cretton takes Spider-Man 4 consolation prize
The dust is settling on the Kang Dynasty. Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton, who thus far has been a pretty good sport about his Avengers arc exploding in a flurry of domestic violence charges and corporate second-guessing, will finally make a new Marvel movie. As an unofficial consolation for giving Avengers back to the Russos, Marvel has hired Cretton to direct the next Spider-Man film with the word "Home" in the title.
So there's no confusion: this is the Tom Holland series of Spider-Man movies, a clarification that means less than ever, considering all three friendly cinematic Spider-Men appeared in Spidey's last film, 2021's No Way Home. Spider-Man remains a co-production for Marvel, which shares joint custody of the beloved Web-head with Sony, leaving Kevin Fiege to share producer credit with Amy Pascal. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers will write the script as they did for the three Jon Watts movies. Watts, obviously, is not returning because Marvel hired Cretton. (Haven't you been reading the article? There will be a test later!)
Cretton's Shang-Chi gave us reason to believe that maybe, somehow, the post-Endgame MCU would be all right. Finally, a new hero with charisma, powers that required hand-to-hand combat, and a solid group of supporting characters. Pleased with the $430 million box office take, Marvel hired Cretton to direct its most crucial movie, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, the Phase Five wrap-up and crown jewel of Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet.
We all know what happened next. Jonathan Majors, the actor who starred as the Multiverse Saga's chief heel, Kang, in Loki and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, was arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend and was later found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment, putting all Kang-related productions on hold. Cretton probably read the writing on the wall. Days after the disastrous release of The Marvels, which handed Marvel its first massive bomb, Cretton dropped out of Avengers: Kang Dynasty. Eight months later, Marvel announced Robert Downey Jr and the Russo brothers eight months were hired to make more Avengers movies. Perhaps there are worse consolation prizes than making a Spider-Man movie, but would it kill Marvel to make another Shang-Chi?