Marvel ropes in Destin Daniel Cretton to helm Shang-Chi, MCU's first Asian superhero-led film

Disney and Marvel have tapped Destin Daniel Cretton to helm Shang-Chi, the first film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature an Asian superhero in the lead role. The film will reportedly have a predominantly Asian cast. The news comes on the heels of the monumental success of Brie Larson’s first female superhero-led MCU offering, Captain Marvel .  [caption id=“attachment_6257881” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Destin Daniel Cretton (left), Shang-Chi. Twitter/@MCUexchange, DiscussingFilm[/caption] Often referred to as the “Master of Kung Fu”, Shang-Chi is a half-Chinese, half-American superhero created by writer Steve Englehart and pencilled in by Jim Starlin in 1973.  Shang-Chi is an extraordinary master of numerous unarmed and weaponry-based wushu styles, including the use of the gun, nunchaku and jian. He was trained to be martial artist assassin by his father, the infamous pulp villain Fu Manchu. Later, he joined the Avengers and gained the power of making multiple duplicates of himself. The Expendables and Wonder Woman 1984 screenwriter Dave Callaham is penning the script for Shang-Chi, who will update the character and his story arc. Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige is bankrolling the project and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Jonathan Schwartz will be serving as executive producers. Cretton has earlier helmed the critically acclaimed Short Term 12 (2013) with Brie Larson in the lead. He reunited with the actress in 2017 film The Glass Castle, and is currently directing the Captain Marvel star and Michael B Jordan is his next, _Just Mercy_ , based on the memoir by Bryan Stevenson.