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“Welcome to the circus,” Bruce Banner told Simu Liu’s Shaun, aka Shang-Chi, at the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. At the time, the comment seemed to bring the Master of Kung fu into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since then, however, the MCU has turned out to be an even bigger circus than Shaun or audiences expected… and not everyone is getting to share the spotlight.
According to the entertainment website Inverse, who is drawing from anonymous and unconfirmed sources, the role of Shang-Chi in the upcoming Avengers movies has been as in flux as the films themselves. As per the site, Shang-Chi was originally intended to be a main character in the fifth Avengers movie, which at the time was titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. During this period, The Kang Dynasty was to be directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In that film, Shang-Chi would have been at the center of the circus, one of the primary heroes battling against Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors.
Cut to 2024, and Jonathan Majors’ off-screen behavior has resulted in his removal from the franchise and Kang the Conqueror with him. Furthermore, Cretton has been removed from the next Avengers films. Meanwhile Marvel has decided to go back to the safe and familiar, getting Joe and Anthony Russo to return to the directors’ chair for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the former of which features Robert Downey Jr. inexplicably returning in the new role of Doctor Doom.
It still remains to be seen if Marvel’s plan to replay the hits will pay off. But whatever they do, Kevin Feige and Marvel cannot leave Shang-Chi behind.
Rise of the Master
Shang-Chi’s comic book debut has a lot in common with his first big screen appearance. The character came into being when writers Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin took to Marvel a rejected pitch for a comic adaptation of the TV series Kung Fu. With the sales of its superhero comics slumping, Marvel was eager to expand into other genres, including horror (leading to Blade in The Tomb of Dracula), Blaxploitation (with Luke Cage), and martial arts with Iron Fist and now Shang-Chi.
Englehart and Starlin reworked their pitch for 1973’s Special Marvel Edition #15, which introduced Shang-Chi as the Master of Kung Fu and the son of Fu Manchu, a villain and racist caricature from novels by English writer Sax Rohmer. Dubbed “the Master of Kung Fu,” Shang-Chi found an audience and has enjoyed his own ongoing comics and variety of miniseries sever since, even joining the Avengers and the Thunderbolts.
Shang-Chi is the type of B or C-level character that Marvel needed to bring into the MCU after Avengers: Endgame brought the first three phases to an end, like Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk. But whereas those shows and movies were met with mixed responses, if in terms of viewership and not critical notices in Ms. Marvel’s case, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a proper hit when evaluated on the curve of it releasing during the still-ongoing vaccination rollout in the fall of 2021—a time when many moviegoers were reluctant to return to cinemas because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liu charmed audiences, and Cretton crafted some of the best actions sequences in the franchise. And, oh yeah, it also had Hong Kong legend Tony Leung as Shang-Chi’s father the Mandarin (swapping the Iron Man 3 villain out for Fu Manchu). Yet despite the movie’s success, Shang-Chi himself has stayed on the shelf. He’s never been seen since the end of his movie. Even after Liu stole the show as one of the rival Kens in last year’s Barbie, Marvel’s made no move to bring Shang-Chi back.
An Untold Legend
On one hand, it’s easy to see why Shang-Chi hasn’t gotten the same push as other superheroes. He doesn’t have the name recognition that even Iron Man had before 2008, and he isn’t really a superhero. He doesn’t have a special code name, and while he does have some magic rings, his power is being really good at martial arts. On the other hand, he’s exactly the type of character that Marvel needs. The current onset of superhero movie fatigue may have made people forget, but even at the height of the franchise, audiences complained about the formulaic nature of the films. With his magic rings and Kung fu moves, Shang-Chi has a skill set that demands powerful visuals and different ways of defeating villains.
Then there’s the matter of Liu, who proved his comedy credentials before Shang-Chi in the sitcom Kim’s Convenience. He managed to challenge Ryan Gosling in every scene they shared in Barbie. Occasional tone-deaf social media posts aside, Liu has what it takes to be a big star.
Punching Forward, Not Kicking Back
But there’s a bigger issue with the decision to push Shang-Chi into the background. Like Ms. Marvel and WandaVision, The Legend of the Ten Rings proved that the MCU could continue past Endgame, without its former big names Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. The shared universe could get bigger and weirder, telling a variety of stories.
There are many different factors that led to superhero fatigue. While Disney understandably wants to ensure that they get the most return on their expensive investments, they can still run the risk of becoming too stagnant or backward-looking, which is the potential downside of bringing back the Russos and Downey, or continuing too long in the rose-tinted nostalgia-fest vibes of a movie like Deadpool & Wolverine.
If the fifth Avengers film keeps Shang-Chi in the picture, then the MCU can become the best type of circus, with new acts and thrills. But if that movie does trade out Shang-Chi for Downey and other safe bets, it might mark Doomsday indeed.
Avengers: Endgame is slated for a 2026 release.
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