Late last year, trouble seemed to be afoot in the Marvel Universe. “Shang-Chi and the Legend Of The Ten Rings” filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, scheduled to helm “Avengers: Kang Dynasty,” suddenly dropped out of the picture. Cretton cited his many obligations to Marvel Studios and that he had already taken on too much. Cretton was already scheduled to direct the untitled “Shang-Chi 2” sequel and produce and oversee Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series, “Wonder Man,” and directing a huge ‘Avengers’ film for 2026 on top of it all would be impossible.
Still, speculation started that perhaps Cretton was unhappy with where his Marvel projects were going, and perhaps, inevitably, a replacement director for “Shang Chi 2” would eventually be named. Well, not so.
In an interview with Comic Book Movie, while he had no significant updates on “Shang Chi 2,” its star Simu Liu did reiterate Cretton’s commitment to making it.
“Oh man, I don’t know, to be honest,” Liu began about the status of the ‘Shang Chi’ sequel. “I mean, those things are so above my pay grade. I just want to continue to be a fan of it. You know, when I get a call of like, ‘Hey, this is what you’re in, and this is where you’re going to show up. And, this is when you’re going to need to be blacked out for.’ That’s kind of generally what tends to happen. But, you know Destin is such a special filmmaker, and we’re very happy to have him on the sequel. So, he’ll be working on that, and we’re really excited to see what he comes up with. I think he’s going to do a brilliant job.”
Marvel is in a bit of a rethink period, and Bob Iger recently said on a Disney earnings call that Marvel Studios plans to reduce their output in the next few years, which likely means 2025 and 2026— both years of which are scheduled to have four Marvel films released, currently— will be paired back to at last three a year (2024 will only see one Marvel theatrical release with “Deadpool & Wolverine”). “Wonder Man, which Cretton is an executive producer and creative on, was rumored to be scrapped last year, but those reports proved to be false, and the series has been finishing up its production this year.
“Shang Chi 2” is rumored to be titled “Shang Chi And The Wreckage Of Time.” The title was among several Marvel title leaks in 2022, and some of them, like “Captain America: New World Order,” turned out to be true (though the film has since changed its name to “Captain America: Brave New World”).
Yet no writers or anything has ever been announced on the film other than Cretton would direct. “Avengers: Kang Dynasty” is currently scheduled for May 2026; Marvel presently has three additional release dates planned for 2026, one in February, another in July, and the fourth and final one in November. Though again, that may soon change.
“Shang Chi 2” could be among one of them, but with ‘Kang Dynasty’ still in flux, still possibly delayed over its many writer changes, and Marvel rethinking its output, it’s anyone’s guess what the future holds for an era that previously thought could sustain four films a year.