Destin Daniel Cretton Exits Marvel's "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty"

American filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton is no longer serving in the director chair of Marvel's "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty".

Cretton had been attached since last year, with the news announced on the heels of San Diego Comic-Con.

Jeff Loveness, who wrote the Kang-centric feature Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, penned a draft of the movie, though it is unclear if another scribe will take pen the pic now that the writers strike has ended.

Jonathan Majors is due to play Kang, a time-traveling villain with many variants across the multiverse, although the actor’s legal troubles remain among the question marks bedeviling the project. 

A version of Kang first appeared in the season one finale of Loki, with another serving as the antagonist of Quantumania. 

The final moments of the film revealed an entire Council of Kangs, featuring dozens of iterations of the villain played by Majors, who was central to Loki season two, though his future with Marvel has been subject of speculation as he awaits trial in New York on assault and harassment charges.

One issue that factored into Cretton departing is the shifting release date for Kang Dynasty. The project was initially slated to open in May 2025 but has been pushed back to May 2026.

Cretton, who directed Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, will focus on developing a sequel for that movie. 

He is also in business with Marvel as a director and executive producer on its TV series Wonder Man, which was shut down by the strikes but will continue filming in the coming weeks.

"Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" is due out May 1, 2026. Marvel’s follow-up, "Avengers: Secret Wars", arrives a year later. Like Kang, is does not have a director attached.