Simu Liu Says ‘Shang-Chi’ Sequel Was Planned to Release After ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’
Marvel Studios released Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in September 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, to what would then be considered an alright box office reception ($432M worldwide on a $150-200M budget). A few months later, Marvel would officially announce they had signed an overall deal with director Destin Daniel Cretton that would include a Disney Plus series and a Shang-Chi sequel.
As we now know, the series is the currently-in-production Wonder Man, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (filming was recently halted because of the WGA strike). In addition to that, less than a year after the Shang-Chi 2 announcement, Marvel confirmed that Cretton was also to direct the first Avengers Saga culmination movies, The Kang Dynasty, which was originally dated for a May 2, 2025, date (now delayed to May 1, 2026). But there was a mysterious lack of news regarding Shang-Chi 2.
During the San Diego Comic-Con Marvel Studios panel, Kevin Feige provided plenty of details for the MCU’s Phase 5 slate, as well as three films from Phase 6 — Fantastic Four and both Avengers movies. (All of that has been blown up by now, after multiple announced delays.) We assumed that Shang-Chi 2 would be one of the movies to come out during Phase 6, and thus, in between Avengers movies. Well, Shang-Chi himself, Simu Liu, confirmed as much recently on Threads, saying:
“Was told it would follow ‘Avengers’ but that keeps pushing back due to circumstances beyond my control. Hope to have more concrete news to share soon.”
With Marvel trying to untangle the entire mess surrounding their Kang star Jonathan Majors, whose case just received a major setback after a blockbuster investigative report by Rolling Stone, everything with the upcoming Avengers movie is up in the air, though we firmly believe they will keep the title and plot, and recast the role if necessary. The Kang Dynasty was just delayed an entire year, but that was arguably not due to Majors’ legal troubles but rather as part of Marvel’s moves to space out their upcoming movies. The ongoing WGA strike may have something to do with it as well, particularly after it’s being reported that original writer Jeff Loveness is no longer involved with the movie, so Marvel should be seeking out a new scribe. All things considered, it seems even unlikely that The Kang Dynasty will be in theaters by May 2026.
But if the studio is to move up Shang-Chi 2 from its original place, there is one more thing to consider. Destin Daniel Cretton was initially announced as the director of the sequel, but he’s supposed to direct Avengers 5 too. In fact, no director has been announced for Kang Dynasty‘s follow-up, Secret Wars, and Cretton himself may be pushing to direct that himself. If that is true, and Marvel ends up hiring him to direct both Avengers movies, Cretton would definitely have to back out of Shang-Chi 2. (If I may, and while we are at this, I would like to suggest reaching out to the Daniels for that job.)
For now, Marvel’s next theatrical film is The Marvels, out on November 10. Deadpool 3 will follow suit on May 3, 2024, with Captain America: Brave New World up next. That film just wrapped production.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
