Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently the highest grossing American release of 2021, which is good news for both Marvel and director Destin Daniel Cretton, who have inked a multi-year deal together that will see the filmmaker return to write and direct the Shang-Chi sequel.
This comes on the heels of the previously announced Disney+ MCU show that Cretton is already working on. Unfortunately, like many MCU projects, the details are completely under wraps. But clearly Marvel see plenty of promise in the director, who had previously focused on directing grounded dramas such as Short Term 12, The Glass Castle, and Just Mercy.
Shang-Chi has made almost $432M worldwide, and represents the first MCU film is led by an Asian actor and mostly Asian cast. Its sequel will join the ever-growing list of announced Marvel content expected to be coming out over the next few years. Kevin Feige, President and Chief Creative Officer at Marvel Studios, said in a statement:
“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.”
Cretton added: “Working on Shang-Chi with Kevin and the Marvel Studios team was one of the highlights of my life, and I couldn’t be more excited about Tara’s vision for Onyx Collective. I can’t wait to explore new stories and build new worlds with this community.”
The ‘Tara’ Cretton refers to is Tara Duncan, who leads Onyx Collective, a new content brand on Hulu designed to curate a slate of premium entertainment by creators of colour and underrepresented voices. Although most Onyx Collective content will be exclusive to Hulu, select titles will also be available on Disney+, and that very likely includes Cretton’s MCU show.
So Cretton has now fully graduated from acclaimed indie director with this news. It will be interesting to see how the Shang-Chi sequel comes together and what else he has in store for the MCU. Outside of Marvel, he is also directing and executive producing an adaptation of Gene Luen Yang‘s graphic novel American Born Chinese. For Disney+, of course.
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