Plans for the Marvel Universe may feel like they’re set in stone, but if Avengers: Endgame proved anything, it’s that both the past and the future can be rewritten. The MCU’s future currently lies in the hands of Kang the Conqueror, a villain positioned to be the spiritual successor to Thanos. But there are multiple issues with Kang, and now a new announcement has all but confirmed that the next Avengers movie, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, will not happen as planned. In fact, it may not happen at all.
The Hollywood Reporter announced that Kang Dynasty director Daniel Destin Cretton has left the project, mere days after The Ringer’s Joanna Robinson said the movie’s writers had left. While Cretton will still direct the upcoming Wonder Man series and the Shang-Chi sequel, his departure from such a high-profile film may be the final nail in its coffin.
After the mediocre box office performance of Kang’s debut movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and actor Jonathan Majors’ domestic abuse charges, pushing forward with Kang as a major player no longer seemed like a sure bet. The MCU’s decision to move away from him was even hinted at in the Loki Season 2 finale, which essentially downplayed the threat he posed to the galaxy and buried the character in a manila folder.
There are three ways Marvel can go with this film. First, they could proceed as planned. Maybe these departures are purely coincidental, and Cretton’s jam-packed Marvel schedule was too unwieldy to keep The Kang Dynasty on his slate. Second, they could retitle the movie and start fresh with a new script, new director, and new villain. But with the planned May 2026 release date looming, there may not be time to seed a Thanos-level threat throughout the MCU. They could re-cast Kang, but that feels like an awkward half-measure.
The third and simplest solution would be to cancel the movie altogether. The MCU is clearly in a rebuilding era, and maybe a massive team-up isn’t the best idea given that it’s still unclear which heroes would even be on the team. There’s already a second Avengers movie, Secret Wars, on the schedule, so disappointed fans would still have something to look forward to.
With such a tumultuous road to production, maybe writing off The Kang Dynasty and focusing on building up to Secret Wars is the best direction. Avengers movies should always be worth the wait, and any Marvel fan worth their salt would rather wait longer for one great Avengers movie than get two half-baked ones.
