Aside from Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow finally scoring her own movie more than a decade after being introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ 2021 film slate has otherwise spotlighted new characters. We met the Eternals a month ago, and two months before that, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings saw Simu Liu’s title hero jumping into action. Well, Shang-Chi 2 is indeed now on the horizon thanks to news of a key hire for the sequel coming in.
Marvel Studios tapped Just Mercy’s Destin Daniel Cretton to write and direct Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and evidently the company liked his work, because he’s being brought back to resume those same duties on Shang-Chi 2. This information was shared in Deadline’s report about how Cretton has signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Marvel Studios and Hulu’s Onyx Collective, both under the Disney umbrella. Cretton is also developing an MCU series for Disney+, although what it will focus on wasn’t revealed.
Considering that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was met with a lot of positive critical reception and has collected nearly $432 million worldwide (making it the eighth highest-grossing movie of 2021), needless to say it makes sense that Marvel Studios is not only moving forward with Shang-Chi 2, but having Destin Daniel Cretton write and direct again. He delivered an exceptional product the first time around, so why mess with things by bringing a new filmmaker onto the sequel? Between that and his future work on Disney+ and Hulu, Cretton has a bright future ahead at the Mouse House.
In his official statement about signing this exclusive deal, Destin Daniel Cretton described working on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as “one of the highlights” of his life, and accounting for Hulu’s Onyx Collective, added that he can’t wait to “explore new stories and build new worlds with this community.” Here’s what Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige had to say about Cretton sticking around the Marvel space:
Destin is an amazing collaborator who brought a unique perspective and skill to Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings. We had a fantastic time working together on the film and he has so many intriguing ideas for stories to bring to life on Disney+, so we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with him and can’t wait to get started.
Between Shang-Chi learning that the powerful rings his father Wenwu passed onto him before he died were acting as a beacon to something out in the cosmos, to Shang-Chi’s sister Xialing taking over the Ten Rings organization, the first movie had enough teases for the sequel to follow up on. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Marvel series Destin Daniel Cretton is working on for Disney+ is centered on Xialing leading the Ten Rings, in which case it’s unclear if she’d resurface in Shang-Chi 2 as well. It also remains to be seen if Shang-Chi will pop up in a different Marvel movie before his sequel arrives.
We’ll keep you apprised on Shang-Chi 2’s development as more news trickles in. For now, you can view Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Disney+ or look through our upcoming Marvel movies guide to see what else the MCU is priming for theatrical release.
