Here\u2019s proof that we\u2019ve been living through our own \u2018Blip\u2019 recently: it is, somehow, five years since Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings<\/em> hit cinemas. Destin Daniel Cretton\u2019s MCU debut arrived not only among the first wave of Marvel movies released post-Avengers: Endgame<\/em>, but came in the wake of the first rush of Covid too. Even amid those circumstances, it proved a blast, introducing Simu Liu\u2019s martial artist Shang-Chi into our roster of heroes, battling family demons, and actual demons too. The film was well-received, and performed admirably at the box office at a time when audiences were still wary of entering enclosed spaces with strangers. So, where the hell has Shang-Chi been for the last five years?<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s a good question, and there\u2019s no obvious answer. While the Multiverse Saga of the MCU has undeniably been a shakier road than the Infinity Saga that preceded it \u2013 expanding not just into other realities, but widening the character roster considerably too \u2013 Shang-Chi emerged as one of the coolest and most likeable new faces in the shared universe. The film made $432 million worldwide, which is more than 2021\u2019s Black Widow<\/em> and Eternals<\/em>, and on track with Phase 1 origin movies like Thor<\/em> and Captain America: The First Avenger<\/em>. We should be swimming in Shang-Chi<\/em> stories by now.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps Shang-Chi\u2019s cinematic comeback got lost in the shuffle. It shouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Or at least, other appearances from Shang-Chi himself. To take another hero introduced that same year, just look at Florence Pugh\u2019s Yelena Belova \u2013 who arrived in Black Widow<\/em>, and along the way has popped up in Hawkeye<\/em>, had a major role in Thunderbolts*<\/em>, and had a part to play in this summer\u2019s Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/em> too. It\u2019s baffling that Shang-Chi hasn\u2019t been seeded through other MCU projects; Liu has only returned to voice the character in animation, on What If\u2026?<\/em> and Marvel Zombies<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are many reasons why we\u2019re desperate to see Shang-Chi again. The Ten Rings<\/em>\u2019 martial arts-driven fight sequences are outstanding \u2013 not just the oft-mentioned bus brawl (the action highlight of the movie), but the scaffolding showdown too. As well as proving ultra-likeable in the role, Liu really moves when the action kicks into gear. The additional of the MCU\u2019s take on Eastern folklore brought something fresh to the already sprawling universe, and Shang-Chi\u2019s ring-based power-set has a unique visual identity.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The film boasted a stacked supporting cast too: the great Tony Leung adding major gravitas as Shang-Chi\u2019s grieving father Wenwu; Michelle Yeoh was here just a year before bagging her Everything Everywhere Oscar; the dependably amiable Awkwafina shines as Katy in the \u2018sweet sidekick\u2019 role; and Meng\u2019er Zhang, another instant standout, kicked ass as Shang-Chi\u2019s sister Xialing. All of them would be welcome return presences.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maybe, if all had gone to plan, there would have been a Shang-Chi<\/em> sequel by now; or at least other appearances from the character. The film pre-dates many of the troubles that seem to have hit Marvel Studios over the course of its second major Saga: a pivot in direction away from a Kang storyline, an explosion of output with a barrage of Disney+ shows, the underperformance of several features. In among that time, the studio more or less took a year off from releases to recalibrate; Destin Daniel Cretton was due to make Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and when that fell apart he ended up directing Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/em> \u2013 on which he did an excellent job. Perhaps Shang-Chi\u2019s cinematic comeback got lost in the shuffle. It shouldn\u2019t have, though.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thankfully, we will \u2013 at long last \u2013 be seeing Shang-Chi again soon. Avengers: Doomsday<\/em> will finally bring the character back to the screen, already seen in the film\u2019s trailer going toe-to-toe with Channing Tatum\u2019s mutant Gambit. Hopefully he\u2019ll have a significant role to play, and the film can hint at what he\u2019s been up to over these five years. And while Marvel has major plans for the X-Men in the wake of Secret Wars<\/em>, here\u2019s hoping they can factor in a return of Shang-Chi, and the Ten Rings too. Better late than never.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Shang-Chi And The Ten Rings is streaming now on Disney+<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here\u2019s proof that we\u2019ve been living through our own \u2018Blip\u2019 recently: it is, somehow, five years since Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings hit cinemas. Destin Daniel Cretton\u2019s MCU debut arrived not only among the first wave of Marvel movies released post-Avengers: Endgame, but came in the wake of the first rush of Covid too. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-47"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13728,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13726\/revisions\/13728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Shang-Chi](\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/shang-chi-came-out-five-years-ago-and-it-should-have-a-sequel-or-two-already.jpg\")
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