Why Is Shang-Chi Like This?

September 3, 2026 marks the five-year anniversary of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Of the Multiverse Saga’s many movies, this is one of the stronger ones. It was a decent earner back in 2021. In another world, we’d probably already be on our second solo movie, and hey, maybe he’d have popped up in other people’s stuff when appropriate. But in this world, Simu Liu’s ring-slinging martial artist has been missing in action to a slightly weird degree. Liu voiced Shang-Chi variants in the animated What If…? and Marvel Zombies TV shows, while his MCU incarnation will make his sophomore appearance in December’s Avengers: Doomsday. It’s a pretty big escalation for someone whose debut ended with Hulk, Wong, and Captain Marvel giving him a soft welcome into their line of work. You see him in Sam Wilson’s Avengers lineup in the Doomsday trailer, going up against Gambit, and wonder if he’s truly ready to fight Doctor Doom and his Sentinel army. Despite the jokes, Shang-Chi’s not really an abnormality within the MCU. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Ant-Man each got a single movie to make a case for themselves before getting jumped into a big crossover. In fact, crossovers are how Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Black Panther were introduced, and look at them now. Though, in fairness, each hero comes with different context: contracts kept Widow and Hawkeye from getting solo projects in a timelier fashion, and Wanda’s probably not a character at all if Disney+ doesn’t exist. Conversely, Ant-Man’s second solo movie was announced months after his first movie came out, and Panther and Spider-Man were cast with future films in mind. Marvel’s no stranger to trying to get ahead of who audiences may end up loving; Kamala Khan, Yelena Belova, Agatha Harkness, and Jean Grey walk a fine line between pre-destined for bigger things and thriving from fan attention. With Shang-Chi, it feels like the studio was surprised by how much the movie ended up landing with audiences and is still trying to play catchup. As a result, Liu’s looking to keep his martial arts skills sharp with an adaptation of Sleeping Dogs as director Destin Daniel Cretton has brought some of Shang‘s energy over to Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Cretton’s next film is a Naruto adaptation, meaning a second Shang movie will come post-Avengers: Secret Wars, and even that is a question of when afterward that the character may appear again. If there’s any Marvel hero who knows what Shang’s going through, Doctor Strange is right there. The Sorcerer Supreme joined the MCU in 2016, then appeared in Thor: Ragnarok, the Avengers duology, and several What If…? episodes. He wouldn’t get his own sequel, Multiverse of Madness, until 2022, but it was clear whenever he popped up that Marvel had an idea of what to do with him and his grander purpose in the MCU machinery. Shang-Chi… not so much, and one could cynically argue he was mainly brought in to help wipe Iron Fist out of everyone’s memories and tie up the Mandarin stuff Iron Man 3 threw an arguably hilarious (and welcome) wrench into. With both goals having been achieved in one go—and Marvel having decided both those threads could continue, actually—what’s left for the Master of Kung Fu to do? This is a question Marvel’s probably thinking about and hoping Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars can help answer. For all Marvel’s faults, the post-crossover solo movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Spider-Man: Far From Home have been generally successful at digging into their leads’ headspaces or establishing a new personal status quo for them, often to critical and financial success. Shang-Chi’s next solo movie doesn’t need to break the bank, but it does need to help remind audiences that Marvel’s serious about doing right by its actors and not trying to waste anyone’s time with its next saga. And if it also ends up a pretty good movie in its own right, that’d be great. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.