As Hollywood gets up and running again following a months-long work stoppage due to a pair of strikes, it’s becoming clear that the fine folks at Marvel Studios have continued to be hard at work behind the scenes. Projects such as Deadpool 3 and Marvel Spotlight’s Wonder Man are said to be resuming filming this month, casting is underway for 2025’s Fantastic Four, and there have been some changes to the creative teams behind multiple projects. Most recently, it was revealed that Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, has decided to leave Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to focus on his work with Wonder Man and the sequel to Shang-Chi. As that news broke earlier this week, the rumor mill once again began to turn and it’s churned out some interesting tidbits.
Kang and the Multiverse of Madness
Paired with Jonathan Majors‘ ongoing legal troubles, Cretton’s departure from The Kang Dynasty led to some rumblings that Marvel Studios had decided to part ways with Majors and ditch their ongoing Kang storyline entirely. Part of that rumor has since been disputed by scooper Daniel RPK who explained that while Marvel is open to recasting Kang, “they’re not leaving the character aside.“
Given Loki producer Kevin Wright’s revelation that Michael Waldron, who was originally tabbed by Marvel Studios to write Avengers: Secret Wars, had taken over writing duties on Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, RPK’s information seems consistent with what the studios is saying publicly. “He loves obviously this world as he helped create it“, said Wright of Waldron, referring to the fact that the writer was behind Kang’s introduction to the MCU as the creator of the first season of Loki.
Secret Secret Wars
With Waldron taking over creative duties on both ends of the two-part Multiverse Saga finale, there’s been some speculation that the studio may scrap the title “The Kang Dynasty” altogether. Insider Jeff Sneider shared that his source indicated that might be the case and that the studio might opt for Avengers: Secret Wars, Part 1 and Avengers: Secret Wars, Part 2. That seems a little unlikely for a studio that loves to coopt comic book titles from Marvel Comics but another bit of info shared by the scooper does line up with something we’ve heard from our own sources.
Snieder indicated that, regardless of titles, the two films are a two-part story and that with the departure of Cretton, the studio was now looking for one director/team of directors to rule them all as was the cast with the Russo brothers on Avengers: Infinty War and Avengers: Endgame. As it was explained to me, Marvel was looking for a “cohesive vision for two movies” and with Waldron on board to write both, they are halfway there. This sheds some light on Cretton’s departure (how could he handle the Shang-Chi sequel–which is rumored to be part of this Saga–AND both big Avengers films?) and then opens the door to who might be available for both films. While Sneider suggested the studio might look at Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman, internet sentiment would have Kevin Feige at least consider Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead who were recently lauded for their work on Loki Season 2. Though the duo recently took over on Daredevil, their schedule might clear up afterward and just because Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is currently slated for a May 2, 2026 release doesn’t mean that’s where it will end up. At this point, the studio would happily move the film if it meant it hit as hard as Avengers: Infinty War did in 2018.
Whatever the case, evidence is mounting that Marvel Studios has evaluated and changed course a bit…just how much remains to be seen.
Source: The Insneider
