---
name: "Destin Daniel Cretton"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/destin-daniel-cretton"
fi1m_id: "destin-daniel-cretton"
imdb_id: "nm2308774"
tmdb_id: 1144604
wikidata_id: "Q15972939"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "23 November 1978"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-19T12:16:54.563499+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Destin Daniel Cretton

## Identity

Destin Daniel Cretton

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/destin-daniel-cretton
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** destin-daniel-cretton
- **IMDb ID:** nm2308774
- **TMDB ID:** 1144604
- **Wikidata ID:** Q15972939
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destin_Daniel_Cretton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15972939, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2308774/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1144604

Director and writer. Born 23 November 1978 in Haiku, Hawaii, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 23 November 1978, Haiku, Hawaii, USA
- **Active:** 2013–present
- **Also known as:** Destin Cretton, 데스틴 크리튼, Destin Yori Daniel Cretton
- **Frequently works with:** [Ben Kingsley](https://film.one/person/ben-kingsley.md), [Kevin Feige](https://film.one/person/kevin-feige.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 86 (1), 2020s 73 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 75 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Action 2, Adventure 2, Drama 2, Comedy 1, Fantasy 1, Science Fiction 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $2,842m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destin_Daniel_Cretton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15972939, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2308774/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1144604

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Wonder Man*](https://film.one/tv/wonder-man.md) (82), [*Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings*](https://film.one/film/shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings.md) (66)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Short Term 12*](https://film.one/film/short-term-12.md) (86)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Destin Daniel Cretton

> Destin Daniel Cretton makes superhero stories worth watching when he lets their characters have ordinary worries. We rate his patience with actors, though his interest in people does not always survive the larger action sequences.

Peter Parker lives in a small flat, works, patrols and talks to almost nobody in *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* (2026). Cretton gives that routine enough attention to make the isolation matter, rather than treating it as a pause before the next fight. Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna’s script helps by taking Peter’s circumstances seriously. For an hour, we thought this was the strongest of Tom Holland’s films in the role. Cretton is worth following for that willingness to spend time with someone who has nobody to talk to.

That concern was there in his breakthrough, *Short Term 12* (2013), about a young woman caring for children nobody else wanted. It followed his feature debut, *I Am Not a Hipster* (2012), and drew on his work in a group home. The studio dramas *The Glass Castle* (2017) and *Just Mercy* (2019) came before the move into Marvel with *Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings* (2021). Brie Larson became a recurring collaborator, with rehearsal an important part of his work with actors. In *The Glass Castle*, however, the shift between naturalism and melodrama makes the tone uncertain.

*Shang-Chi* showed that he could stage a fight we could follow, and the early stairwell and fire-escape brawls in *Brand New Day* are clean and fast. We lost interest when the people became pixels: those earlier fights had made it easy to follow who was where. The arrival of guest stars makes the film longer without making it more involving. Cretton can handle action, but the smaller confrontations here give us little reason to wish for larger ones.

*Wonder Man* (2026) is the stronger recommendation, although its achievement is shared with fellow directors Stella Meghie, Tiffany Johnson and James Ponsoldt. They keep the emphasis on character and give Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley room to develop their warm, funny rapport. The showbusiness satire could be sharper, but the series lets its superheroes have interests beyond preventing catastrophe. That smaller scale suits what we value in Cretton’s work, without requiring every future film to be small. Start there if another evening spent preventing catastrophe sounds rather like work.

## Biography

Destin Daniel Cretton is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Born in Haiku, Hawaii, he studied at Point Loma Nazarene University and San Diego State University. After working for two years at a group home for at-risk teenagers, he began making short films and directed his feature debut I Am Not a Hipster in 2012.

Cretton is known for directing Short Term 12 (2013), The Glass Castle (2017), Just Mercy (2019) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). He directed episodes of the series American Born Chinese (2023) and co-created and directed episodes of Wonder Man (2026). He also directed Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, gq.com, mauinews.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* (2026), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-brand-new-day.md)
- *Wonder Man* (2026), Fi1m 82, Executive Producer, Director, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/wonder-man.md)
- *Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings* (2021), Fi1m 66, Screenplay, Director, Screenstory — [page](https://film.one/film/shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings.md)
- *Short Term 12* (2013), Fi1m 86, Director, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/short-term-12.md)

## Complete filmography (26)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* (2026), Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-brand-new-day.md)
- *Wonder Man* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Director, Creator — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/wonder-man.md)
- *Lucky Lu* (2026), Producer
- *American Born Chinese* (2023), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *In the Garden of Tulips* (2023), Executive Producer
- *Closing Dynasty* (2022), Executive Producer
- *Same Old* (2022), Executive Producer
- *Tokyo Vice* (2022), series, Executive Producer
- *Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings* (2021), Screenplay, Screenstory, Director — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings.md)
- *Just Mercy* (2019), Director, Screenplay
- *The Glass Castle* (2017), Director, Writer
- *Los* (2017), Producer
- *The Shack* (2017), Screenplay
- *Switchfoot: Close to Our Hearts, The Bro-Am Documentary* (2014), Producer
- *Short Term 12* (2013), Director, Writer — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/short-term-12.md)
- *I Am Not a Hipster* (2013), Director, Writer, Producer, Editor
- *Short Term 12* (2008), Writer, Director, Editor, Producer
- *Deacon's Mondays* (2007), Producer, Director, Writer
- *Drakmar: A Vassal's Journey* (2006), Director, Producer, Editor, Camera Operator
- *Bartholomew's Song* (2006), Director
- *Longbranch: A Suburban Parable* (2002), Director, Writer
- *By the Time the Sun Is Hot*, Producer
- *Naruto*, Director, Producer, Writer
- *Sea of Thieves*, Producer
- *Untitled Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Sequel*, Director, Writer
- *Untitled Hawaii Five-0 Film*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Destin Daniel Cretton](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-50e9a7070dbb.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Destin_Daniel_Cretton_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/1280px-Destin_Daniel_Cretton_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-3d6b7172fda5.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469145371%29.jpg/1280px-Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469145371%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-d6eff1d29196.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469153821%29.jpg/1280px-Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469153821%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-4483af5b45be.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469278317%29.jpg/1280px-Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469278317%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-c6058457c956.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton — Image via TMDB
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-dab81386eca9.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton — Image via TMDB
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-b23766ac6e0e.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton — Image via TMDB
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-0d7f752a9a4a.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469282532%29.jpg/1280px-Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469282532%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-98a3bc566554.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", at the San Diego Convention Cente — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469292987%29.jpg/1280px-Destin_Daniel_Cretton_%2848469292987%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Destin Daniel Cretton](https://film.one/media/person/6382/gallery-a0a2d0603732.jpg) Destin Daniel Cretton — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/destin-daniel-cretton