Destin Daniel Cretton to Direct ‘Spider-Man 4’

Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Photo: Marvel Studios.

Preview:

‘Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton is in talks for ‘Spider-Man 4’.
Tom Holland is back as the title character.
Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers will once more write the script.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ proved that even as the film industry recovered from the pandemic, audiences were still eager to embrace superhero movies if they were done well.

It earned almost $2 billion at the box office and ranks as one of the more successful MCU entries, produced as usual alongside Sony Pictures.

There has been chatter about a fourth entry in the franchise (more on that below), but regular director Jon Watts, who handled ‘No Way Home’ and predecessors ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Spider-Man: Far from Home’ decided he needed a break from Marvel, choosing to focus on other projects, including upcoming Disney+ series ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ and Brad Pitt/George Clooney crime caper ‘Wolfs.’

So the ‘Spider-Man’ franchise, in order to continue, has been in need of a filmmaker, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it may have found one in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ director Destin Daniel Cretton.

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The next installment of the MCU Spider-Man franchise: a sequel to “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the first in a possible new trilogy. Plot unknown. Read the Plot

What’s the story of ‘Spider-Man 4’?

Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Photo: Marvel Studios.

Given that ‘No Way Home’ changed things in a huge way for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker –– as you’ll likely recall, it ended with a spell that wiped everyone’s memory of him so as to protect the people he loves –– the storyline going forward is naturally something of a mystery.

“The first few meetings were about, ‘Why would we do this again?’ And I think we found the reason why,” Holland told the Reporter previously about the fourth movie. But that actual reason has yet to be divulged (and with Holland not currently doing press, we’ll have to wait until he does before any details emerge accidentally).

We do at least know that Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who contributed to or wrote the previous three Spider-outings, are back on board for this one.

Who will appear in the new ‘Spider-Man’ movie?

(L to R) Zendaya and Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Photo: Marvel Studios.

Though the game was changed considerably in ‘No Way Home’, we can’t imagine that the franchise would continue without Zendaya as MJ (Peter’s big love interest) and Jacob Batalon as Ned (his best friend). Surely a way will be found to have them remember him?

What else has Destin Daniel Cretton being doing in the MCU?

Simu Liu in Marvel Studios’ ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021.

If his name is familiar, that’s because Cretton has already found Marvel success with ‘Shang-Chi’, which introduced the titular character, played by Simu Liu, to cinema audiences.

Though he was originally attached to direct the next ‘Avengers’ film when it was named ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,’ he departed during the legal chaos that saw the firing of Jonathan Majors –– who played Kang. We know what has happened since with the Avengers outings.

Since then, Cretton has worked on other shows (including ‘American Born Chinese’), but returned to Marvel for ‘Wonder Man,’ which stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and is in post-production.

Obviously, this impacts forward movement on a ‘Shang-Chi’ sequel, but perhaps it means Liu will get his chance to show up again before an ‘Avengers’ movie.