Destin Daniel Cretton was supposed to be making “Shang-Chi 2.” Instead, after detours through “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” and “Wonder Man,” he landed behind the camera on “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”—but apparently only after Marvel and Sony spent a considerable amount of time trying to persuade him.
Producer Amy Pascal says the filmmakers “chased and chased and chased and begged and begged and begged” Cretton to direct Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man movie. His arrival also came as the project was struggling to settle on a clear direction.
“I think we are so lucky to have Destin as the captain of our ship,” Tom Holland, Marvel’s Spider-Man, said during the “Brand New Day” global press conference. “He came into this process when the movie was going in a hundred different directions, and really what we needed was someone to come in and focus us all on one idea.”
Cretton found that idea in Peter Parker’s isolation after “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The world has forgotten Peter, leaving him without friends, family, or a community, even as Spider-Man thrives as a hero in New York.
“What’s so amazing about Destin is that he’s able to do that and focus on this idea of what is life like for a young person who is alone,” Holland continued. “It doesn’t sacrifice the action. It doesn’t sacrifice the scope and scale of the movie. So, if we didn’t have Destin, this movie wouldn’t be half of what it is.”
Pascal said Kevin Feige introduced Cretton to the Spider-Man team once the directing job opened. “Destin was a gift that Kevin introduced us to, that we chased and chased and chased and begged and begged and begged,” Pascal said. “And then finally he said, ‘All right.’”
Feige said Marvel had already been looking for ways to continue working with Cretton after “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” alluding to the scrapped “Kang Dynasty” movie and what became “Wonder Man.” He suggested that the director meet with Pascal and Holland, and the meeting went “very, very, very well.”
The press conference never explained why Cretton required such a hard sell. However, in a separate interview with Rolling Stone, the director offered the closest thing to an answer: a major franchise assignment alone is not enough to make him commit.
“I don’t do any movie just to do the movie,” Cretton explained, stressing he must find an intimate, personal connection to the material before accepting a blockbuster. He did not take “Shang-Chi” simply because it was a Marvel movie, and he approached Spider-Man with the same standard. “Until I find that, I don’t feel like I could do a good job,” he added.
For “Brand New Day,” Cretton connected with Peter’s belief that he must remain alone and devote himself entirely to his responsibilities. He told Rolling Stone that he recognized that mentality from periods in his own life when he had similarly convinced himself that isolation was necessary.
Holland says Cretton’s arrival changed the production. “When he came in, it was a scary time,” Holland said near the end of the press conference. “It was a scary time, and he saved us. He sure did.”
Holland did not explain exactly what made that period scary, but various interviews and reports have all suggested that Sony and Marvel weren’t really sure which direction the film needed to take—something the entire press conference seems to gently echo.
Meanwhile, “Shang-Chi 2” remains alive, even if Cretton cannot say when it will happen. Asked about the sequel by Rolling Stone, he said he had recently discussed it with the screenwriter. “I would also love to see ‘Shang-Chi 2,’” Cretton said. “I was talking to [screenwriter] Dave Callaham, our writer, just about it a few weeks ago. So, fingers crossed.”
Cretton’s immediate Marvel future now belongs to Peter Parker, while Shang-Chi’s long-promised return remains somewhere over the horizon. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” opens in theaters on July 31.Watch the full press conference below.
Born in Chile, raised in Canada, now living in Brooklyn, NY, Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, MuchMusic, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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