Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu is convinced that Destin Daniel Cretton, who helmed Liu's Marvel Cinematic Universe debut film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is the right choice to direct the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
While discussing the topic with ComicBook.com, Liu said it "feels incredible" that Cretton was chosen for the position. "I obviously learned about the news a little bit before the rest of the world did, but I freaked out," he said. "I sent him, like, forty texts in a row, all exclamation marks. I'm just so incredibly happy for him, he's so deserving of that spot. What makes him such a special filmmaker, and I've said this from the beginning even when we were premiering our movie, is his ability to make a $150 million movie really, really small, in the best possible way."
The actor added that he looks forward to what Cretton will do with Earth's Mightiest Heroes on a much larger scale than Shang-Chi. Liu said it's potentially easy to "get lost in the spectacle of what those movies can be," but being able to harness the more human aspects makes a movie memorable -- a skill Liu thinks Cretton has. "I think he's got it and I think he deserves this so much," Liu concluded. "I'm so excited to get to work for him again."
Who Will Direct Avengers: Secret Wars?
While Cretton will oversee The Kang Dynasty, he won't return to the director's chair for the subsequent Avengers movie, Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel Studios will supposedly have another filmmaker helm the project. Many fans have pushed for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director and co-writer Ryan Coogler to do so, though Coogler recently responded that he knew nothing about the film and was more focused on finishing Wakanda Forever.
As for The Kang Dynasty, while plot details have not yet been shared, Kang the Conqueror actor Jonathan Majors teased that the film will ask some thought-provoking questions and challenge the accepted view of what a Marvel Studios film should be. "What is an MCU movie? What does that mean, what does that look like?" said Majors. "Those are the questions we're asking. But all of that works when it's grounded and really, really, really tucked into the given circumstances of what's going on between these people, and what we can illuminate for ourselves a species."
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty opens in theaters on May 2, 2025.
Source: ComicBook.com