Marvel has chosen the director for the next big Avengers movie and it will be Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Cretton will be the next director to step up for the next big MCU team-up movie following the news that the Russo Brothers would not be directing either Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or its follow-up Avengers: Secret Wars.
Instead, the job will go to Cretton who introduced Shang-Chi to the MCU. The Marvel film about the martial arts superhero grossed $432 million worldwide, and Cretton signed an overall deal with Marvel that includes an adaptation of Wonder Man and a Shang-Chi sequel. It's unclear if Cretton will also direct Secret Wars.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will be the MCU’s big team-up film that will close out Phase 6 alongside Secret Wars. Kang Dynasty will be released on May 2, 2025, and Secret Wars will be released six months later on November 7, 2025.
While plot details are under-wrap, we know that the MCU has officially entered the Multiverse Saga and Kang, who is played by Jonathan Majors, has already made (one of) his appearances thanks to Loki on Disney+. Majors will return as Kang in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which will be released on February 17, 2023 and kickoff Phase 5.
Cretton's last MCU movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, introduced the kung-fu hero Shang-Chi and brought cinema legend Toney Leung in as the villain. IGN praised Shang-Chi as having the MCU's best fight choreography and a confident introduction to Marvel's first Asian superhero.
For more on Marvel's next big plans check out everything Marvel Studios announced as San Diego Comic-Con, and our big explainer on what exactly Secret Wars is.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.