Rewatching Simu Liu lately really highlights how Marvel fumbled Shang-Chi

I’ve been watching Copenhagen Test this weekend and it reminded me how naturally charismatic Simu Liu is. He’s funny, grounded, and has real leading-man presence.

That made me think back to Shang-Chi, which honestly felt like one of Marvel’s strongest post-Endgame starts. Solid box office for a pandemic release, strong audience reception, and a character who checked a lot of boxes Marvel clearly needed at the time

What I don’t get is why Marvel never really followed through on Shang Chi stories?

After Phase 4 became increasingly aimless, it seemed obvious they were searching for the next anchor character. Instead, years later, the character is essentially absent while the franchise struggled to define direction.

Was this a scheduling issue, internal strategy shift, or just Marvel overestimating how long they could keep characters on the shelf? Curious how others interpret this, because in it feels like a huge missed opportunity

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Commentaires

YesThisIsVictor2026-01-05 07:24

Kevin Feige forgor 😔

FoxyMiira2026-01-05 07:25

Simply they weren't enthusiastic to green light a Shang Chi 2 straight away because the box office whelmed even if it got good reviews. If Shang Chi had opened in China it would've potentially boosted the box office significantly and maybe Marvel would've jumped on aboard. Also I don't think Shang Chi is a character that could ever be a S or A tier comic book character.

secretreddname2026-01-05 07:50

GOTG were like D tier. Iron Man was B tier as best. The movies changed that trajectory and Shang Chi’s movie should have as well but it also fell in the era of Marvel’s bad decisions.

TargaryenKnight2026-01-05 07:35

One simple reason im surprised its not a well known fact

China said they will boycott any film that has Simu as the lead because he spoke out against the Chinese government.

so now Disney would lose the huge box office from china im pretty sure that was the determining factor for why they didn’t give it a sequel yet. The movie was great and we’ll received

Edit: For those arguing that china is not a communist country that strictly censors media/has a ton of propaganda and would never allow someone with a media standing to criticize their way of life I say good day lol

Resurfaced interviews from 2017 showed Liu describing his parents' difficult experiences under Chinese Communist rule and calling China a "third world country" with starvation, which angered Chinese nationalists and state media

But yes, it’s just a coincidence guys lol 😂

leftlanecop2026-01-05 07:55

It is also why he has not been in a lead in any other blockbuster film. It’s all about the flow of money in Hollywood.

Calligrapher_Antique2026-01-05 08:00

They cast him in Barbie tho. ..?

JamacianRabbit2026-01-05 08:01

Not as the lead?

PanthersJB832026-01-05 09:36

And there is a reason he wasn't Barbie or the main Ken

janosaudron2026-01-05 10:34

It's their loss because I would pay top dollar to see Simu as Barbie

DarkDonut752026-01-05 11:00

Now I want them to redo the entire movie but switch Margot Robbie and Simu Liu with each other

kingmanic2026-01-05 08:04

No they didn't.

adsfew2026-01-05 08:08

I'm not sure if this is a dealbreaker anymore.

Reportedly [No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals did not get releases potentially due to LGBTQ content.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-marvel-black-panther-ant-man-rcna66249) [Wakanda Forever and Love and Thunder for the same potential reason](https://www.businessinsider.com/marvels-wakanda-forever-not-released-in-china-analysis-2022-11?op=1) based on this other source (although those two links have conflicting reports regarding Wakanda Forever). [Black Widow didn't get a release due to political concerns over "media content that reminds people of the oppressive history of communist regimes".](https://www.restonyc.com/why-marvel-movies-not-allowed-in-china/)

CaptHayfever2026-01-05 17:02

Black Widow opened during a Chinese blackout period for *all* foreign films.

Player2LightWater2026-01-06 05:10

Eternals director, Chloe Zhao, is also critical of China like Simu Liu.

BiddyKing2026-01-05 08:20

This isn’t true. A subset of Chinese netizens have said this but conversely many others have defended Simu Liu included petitioning to get Shang Chi released there, which wasn’t released because China skips releasing nearly all the non-Avengers MCU films, especially post-Endgame. Saying that ‘China said’ is like saying ‘Americans don’t like Brie Larson’, when the reality is it’s just a facet of dumb fuck internet fans that shouldn’t be representative of a whole nation

JamesRWC2026-01-05 14:20

I'm not American but holy shit do I love Brie Larson

BiddyKing2026-01-06 00:14

Also not American, also love Brie Larson lol

Malibu9212026-01-05 08:37

Didn't he talk about China at the time his parents left?

Weak_Armadillo65752026-01-05 09:03

Spider-Man No Way Home received the same treatment and made well over a billion. I know it’s spider-man but still.

kulitchipon2026-01-05 09:48

Wow that is insane

Jaideco2026-01-05 10:30

That will do it…

williamtheraven2026-01-05 11:14

>China said they will boycott any film that has Simu as the lead because he spoke out against the Chinese government.

He didn't even say anything bad, all he said was his parents move away from china beacuse they wanted to live in canda instead and chinese media screamed that he was a race traitor who thought china was a backwards shithole and not the divine paradise chairman Xi says it is

Reutermo2026-01-05 12:27

> China said they will boycott any film that has Simu as the lead because he spoke out against the Chinese government.

Not arguing against you but do you have a source on that?

kingmanic2026-01-05 16:55

It was a random thread on Chinese social media where 1 guy and a few others questioned Simu description of 60s/70s era China as hard times for his parents. Other folks in the same thread shit on that commenter by saying Simu was right, 60s/70s era China was hard times for everyone. It's basically thinking a random social media thread represents Chinese policy.

Adorable_Ad_34782026-01-05 14:45

Now I'm curious about the Doomsday poster for China. Maybe Shang Chi will get the E7 Finn treatment?

Fabricant4512026-01-05 07:36

The director got tapped to do Avengers, that fell through, and they gave him Spider-Man instead. Presumably any Shang-Chi 2 will happen after Secret Wars. Which is unfortunate

eagc72026-01-05 07:46

I won't be surprised if Kang Dynasty was gonna be like Shang-Chi 1.5 while we waited for a proper sequel

DaBlakMayne2026-01-05 13:13

I still don't understand why they didn't just recast Kang instead of completely writing him out

Ledairyman2026-01-05 13:30

Because the plot wasn't that interesting either. Infinite variant of a villain is kinda boring

ru-frrr2026-01-05 14:42

Especially one that got his ass kicked by ant man 😭😭 whoever the quantumania director was single handily put Kang’s stock in the negatives.

Scholander2026-01-05 17:30

I think it's out there that Scott Lang was supposed to die or be left behind in the quantum realm at the end of Quantumania. The way it was executed apparently left audiences unhappy. But it would have helped make Kang a little more formidable.

lightningvoid8672026-01-05 20:15

No people like you who still fail to understand that kang was weakest in Quantumania. Kang was exiled to the Quantum realm and couldn't use his most powerful weapon which is time. He had to rely on scraps in the quantum realm and still managed to be a threat. We're told and shown that kang is very powerful when he's not exiled which is why they had to keep him in the quantum realm. Ant man had to pull out all the stops to beat the weakest version of kang. A dynasty of kangs would've beaten the avengers.

eagc72026-01-05 21:41

Also one thing we have to remember too is that Kang (At least the version we saw in Quantumania) at the end of the day is a normal human, he's not a god, he's not a super powerfull alien.

Much like Tony he's a guy who is dependant on his technology and not his superstregth, magic or some space gems.

baconfriedpork2026-01-05 15:37

I actually love that idea, but it is a super challenging concept to pull off well

maybe_a_frog2026-01-05 13:33

The only reason they tied their wagon to Kang was because of Majors performance…that’s not exactly speculation either, Feige has said as much. They realized they had something interesting when they cast Majors so they started setting up Kang. They were more interested in the actor than the character specifically, so once the actor was gone that made it easy to pivot to something far more marketable. Doom sells better than pretty much any Marvel villain so he’s the obvious choice.

ChemicalExperiment2026-01-05 14:26

The Kang saga was also set up before the Fox deal went through. After Marvel got access to the FF and X-Men, that became their entire focus, and Majors leaving basically just gave them a reason to fast track that.

Playful-Artichoke-672026-01-05 15:05

Yeah, and I’m pretty sure the Eternals were supposed to face the Avengers instead of the X Men

Player2LightWater2026-01-06 04:08

Kang the Conqueror is supposed to be the main villain of The Multiverse Saga like Thanos being the main villain of The Infinity Saga. All those setups in stuffs such as Loki and Ant-Man 3 were meant to tease Kang. Doctor Doom came out of nowhere and then last year announced him being the main villain not just in two Avengers movies but also the main villain of The Multiverse Saga.

JeffCaven2026-01-05 18:30

Still seems like a dumb decision considering Kang was commonly touted by fans as one of the only villains that could be a saga-wide threat like Thanos, alongside Doom, and now they've wasted him. They should have focused more on building Kang up as an interesting threat instead of relying purely on Major's performance.

ExultantSandwich2026-01-05 13:55

It was a 1-2 punch of Jonathan Majors imploding his career, and Ant-Man Quantumania being seriously terrible.

If it was just Jonathan Majors, they would have recast, and if just Ant-Man was terrible they likely would have pivoted either way, honestly.

They can afford a flop or two, but if an Avengers movie flops, that puts the entire idea into serious jeopardy

DragonTacoCat2026-01-05 18:58

It's actually like night and day. He was so good in Loki 1&2. Then in Quantumania they just really dropped the ball on everything.

lightningvoid8672026-01-05 20:08

>Then in Quantumania they just really dropped the ball on everything.

Only the loud minority online thinks this. Most of the audience thinks the movie was good.

lightningvoid8672026-01-05 20:08

>and Ant-Man Quantumania being seriously terrible.

The movie wasn't terrible in my opinion and judging by most of the audience reviews only the online loud minority thinks it was terrible.

StatisticianLivid7102026-01-06 07:04

The biggest flaw with the movie was the lack of Luis.. and the fact it wasn’t a heist movie.

Richmond432026-01-05 14:57

Especially considering that, in a multiverse, Kang could look like anyone. It’s so dumb.

marcusslayer2026-01-05 16:00

Because nobody cared about him he was a nothing

KrifeH2026-01-05 09:24

it really sucks that he's the only director in the world qualified to do a shang chi movie :/

Jaideco2026-01-05 10:27

Never mind… he will get around to it after he completes the next Spider-Man trilogy.

Jaideco2026-01-05 10:26

I think that answer is incomplete… they absolutely could have green lit a sequel to Shang-Chi immediately after the first one came out an scheduled it for early phase 5 and DDC would still have had time to do Avengers 5 or SC3 at the end of Phase 6.

The issue is that they then waited a couple of years and wasted the opportunity. Even then there would have been a point at which they could signed up DDC for Shang Chi 2 or Avengers 5 and they gave him Kang Dynasty instead.

hismario1232026-01-05 13:40

Shang-Chi 2 was greenlit immediately after the first one, and this has been public information for years. Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars were scheduled originally to both come out in 2025, with him set up to direct Kang Dynasty.

I imagine that if they had stuck to the original plan, they would've released Shang-Chi 2 in 2026. However, strikes delayed all that, and even if you try to figure out their original original plan before COVID was even a factor, with Shang-Chi coming out earlier in 2021, and their goal to release 3-4 movies a year, those Avengers movies may have originally ben scheduled for 2024, making the gap between Shang-Chi appearances even less.

eagc72026-01-05 21:36

I do believe that Shang-Chi 2 was always intended to be a Post-Multiverse Saga project based on what we've seen, but became a casuality thanks to all of these delays

hismario1232026-01-05 23:05

esp. since when they were planning the Multiverse saga the Fox characters were really only just coming back to Marvel/Disney, and old Marvel TV wasn't dead yet, so they wouldn't have been worried about Daredevil, The Punisher etc. Agatha wouldn't have been greenlit yet, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would've been earlier (before James Gunn was fired) (maybe if they were gonna do Shang-Chi 2, it would've taken the slot Guardians 3 took, as the original Guardians 3 spot was never taken up)

Aiyon2026-01-05 15:44

The issue is they had planned out the entire 3 phase slate of movies. Not a general plotline, the actual releases.

Which meant they had no room for adjustment when things did better or worse than expected

CaptHayfever2026-01-05 17:11

Bingo. The issue wasn't the commonly-cited underplanning; the issue was ***OVER***planning.

Famous-Attention-1972026-01-06 01:46

Over 400M during Covid and not capitalizing on it makes zero sense. It grossed more than most marvel superhero introduction movies at a time when people weren't going to theaters. Such a ckusterfuck and missed opportunity.

Paperchampion232026-01-05 13:14

Not only that he was tapped for Wonder Man first.

Impressive-Potato2026-01-05 16:28

Liu started at 30 and will probably be 40 plus in a sequel. That earnest " learning about the superhero world" charm will be gone.

GenGaara252026-01-05 19:32

I really don't understand why they just wouldn't hire a new director for Shang Chi.

Either keep Dustin on it, or hire someone new. Don't let that franchise sit dormant for the better part of a decade.

Armandonerd2026-01-05 22:49

Similar to Derrick Derrickson for Dr. Strange 2. He was supposed to direct, but he stepped down (or was forced to) and became a producer instead and Sam Raimi took over.

SaintNutella2026-01-06 09:20

So 24-25 year-old Shang-Chi who was played by 31 ish year old Simu Liu may not return until Simu is 40?

Absurd.

eagc72026-01-05 07:36

Well one of the big key factors why they aren't doing Shang-Chi 2 is because the director of Shang-Chi who is also attached to do the 2nd movie, also wants to play with the other toys Marvel has to offer, instead of sticking with Shang, unlike other MCU directors who generally speaking tend to stick to the specific franchise they started on, its pretty rare when an MCU director jumps from one franchise to another (Like say the Russos who went from Cap to Avengers)

Like he's developing Wonder Man, he was originally gonna do Kang Dynasty, before that went to shit and he then went on to do Spider-Man.

And Marvel right now doesn't seem they want to change directors, so they are more than willing to put Shang-Chi 2 on a pause until Destin finishes playing with the other toys in Kevin's toybox

MyCatBuster2026-01-05 08:32

I don't think it's Shang-Chi 2 that is the issue. I think the bigger issue is they just had the guy disappear for 4, going on 5 years this September. Surely they could have found something for him to do between that.

And this is where I get annoyed with things like Wonder Man. Why are we worried about introducing yet another character, if they can't support the cast they have? Like I think of Moon Knight and he's just MIA.

Like I don't mind them making Wonder Man or Strange Academy. But show us they have a plan. I don't want them to introduce wonder man and off they go the pile with Scarlet Scarab and Power Broker Sharon Carter.

kulitchipon2026-01-05 09:50

Honestly, yeah. I'm tired of them investing in characters we'd probably never see again anyway

fascfoo2026-01-05 15:23

Totally. Everyones been clamoring for Shang-Chi 2 meanwhile we get more....Wonderman? Which, dont get me wrong, could be great, but you nailed it in Marvel not answering the "why should we care" question.

rohithkumarsp2026-01-05 19:38

Where's moon knight, Kate bishop etc.

hobbie2026-01-05 13:26

I enjoy the one-shots with interesting characters and not everyone has to make an appearance in a future Avengers film. I definitely want more but I’ll settle for a little bit of great (HBO’s Watchmen) instead of a lot of great then complete crap (GoT).

JeffCaven2026-01-05 18:36

> Like I think of Moon Knight and he's just MIA

This one is the one I can excuse the most. It was known from the start that Oscar Isaac had prominently only signed for one season, and the series was completely disconnected from the rest of Marvel, with just one reference to its world. It seems to me that it's the one series they never really planned to follow up on, but left the door open just in case they found any interesting sequel work for Isaac.

Famous-Attention-1972026-01-06 01:48

Yeah regardless of all the other issues that caused delays and rewrites and all the changes, why the fuck haven't we been seeing these characters in other properties? Makes zero sense

naughtmynsfwaccount2026-01-05 11:39

This is less about Destin and much more about mismanagement from marvel

Blaming Destin is like looking at one tree instead of the whole forest

RhythmRapscallion2026-01-05 20:56

100%. Crazy to be blaming Destin when he’s a cog in a very large machine.

MarvelMind2026-01-05 07:45

The pandemic hurt the most. Plenty of blockbusters have thrived without a strong response from China.

looopious2026-01-05 11:43

Hollywood writers strike in 2023 as well.

FerrusManlyManus2026-01-05 14:34

Thrived is not really the word.

Movie grosses have been trending downwards overall. Superhero movies even more so in some territories.

In 2025 only one superhero movie made the top ten, and just barely, as the Wicked sequel underperformed too.

deanallen792026-01-05 07:57

How did they fumble him? Shang Chi was a great movie, one of the better ones since endgame.

eagc72026-01-05 08:08

What they mean is that they didn't kept the momentum going, they didn't made a sequel or at the very least didn't used him in a constant basis (Think Doctor Strange who despite the long gap between sequels was still being used every year)

deanallen792026-01-05 09:13

Understood...... I think we all gotta give Feige the respect and the benifit of the doubt he deserves.... I mean he does know what he is doing, even if it feels like he doesnt atm...

iGuardian912026-01-05 07:59

Lmao shang-chi is overrated Chinese movie

RepresentativeAge4442026-01-05 08:17

This makes no sense

Mr_Rafi2026-01-05 08:12

You guys really overrate Shang-Chi lol.

ikon312026-01-05 08:15

5 paragraphs to say they should’ve made a sequel faster. Jeez.

Aerynsw2026-01-05 08:17

They’ve answered this prompt how many times
Stop asking or stating moot points

Imsmart-98192026-01-05 08:27

Copenhagen test looks cool. Too bad I don’t have Peacock.

No_Tear_22872026-01-05 08:35

Marvel simply didn't trust their new characters to perform as well, which is why so many characters who should've been the face of the next saga were sidelined and underutilized

dabbingsquidward2026-01-05 08:40

He should have been in Black Panther 2. Maybe he could have trained Shuri to make her beating Namor actually make sense

vellumsled2026-01-05 08:47

Racism

Aggressive-Tax-40872026-01-05 09:11

Shang Chi is great, but mostly because of Tony Leung. His character is gone now and a sequel might not be as successful.

sonnytron2026-01-05 09:12

lol. So many people making excuses.

This is just poor management. People are making excuses like the director being busy… Why are you all making excuses for them? It’s obvious that they have been poorly managed for six years. Shang Chi was a golden egg surrounded by spoiled ones. Eternals bombed, so did Ant Man. Even Thor 4 was very mid. They did the same crap with the Disney Plus shows. Moon Knight was well reviewed and well received, had a lot of good press around it and good viewership numbers.

The bottom line is they were spread thin and no one at MCU stepped up to just push Shang Chi 2.

I think they had a lot of producers and directors who want to use MCU projects to pad their resume so they’re all trying to get some idea out. There were way too many hands and as a result, we got The Marvels and Eternals but no central focus on the main plot. It’s the reason that pulling Kang out as big bad doesn’t really ruin anything because he was only really tied to Loki and Ant Man. Can you imagine how devastating it would’ve been to phase 3 if Thanos was canceled? But here we are walking into a billion dollar box office Avengers film with a villain we have seen for 2 seconds without any backstory.

They had too much “stuff” in the phase plan. It was so crowded The Boys made fun of it with The Seven Universe phase movies. Obviously Shang Chi would get sidelined when you have poor leadership. And even if a director is attached to something else, you can still plan the other film. FFH came out not even two months after Endgame. Even if it was a different director, they had casting, writing, locations planned and everything in motion to get it filmed right around the same time that Endgame was wrapped up.

The poor management was so bad, they had to throw over $100 million at RDJ and Chris Evan’s to bring them back, like Thanos line in Endgame. And you all think it’s because of politics or the director being busy? I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even realize Shang Chi was a success. It absolutely was. It came out in 2020 and was profitable. A LOT of films in 2020 were NOT profitable.

eagc72026-01-05 09:24

I do think the very crowded aspect is a big factor, especially with all of these delays which i have no doubt put alot of films in ice.

Adorable_Octopus2026-01-05 14:32

It's only profitable if you assume the reported budget is the whole budget. People tend to estimate the true budget at some multiplier (2 to 2.5x) of the reported budget in order to factor in things like marketing or the fact that studios don't get the whole ticket price. Under normal circumstances the film likely is only hovering around the break even point, but the fact that it was filmed during covid likely drove up the costs even more.

FerrusManlyManus2026-01-05 15:32

It’s definitely poor management. Yes the Covid and strikes didn’t help nor did the mandate for MCU content on Disney+.

But even with all that in mind. Post endgame has been *incredibly* disjointed and rudderless. Most of the new (and old) characters aren’t interacting with each other. Just lots of standalone stories. Lots of characters introduced, then they go nowhere.

labbla2026-01-06 00:37

Yup, so many excuses for Marvel and Feige. Even without Covid or the Strikes or whatever you want to excuse for them it still wouldn't magically make a saga built with poor planning and terrible movies be any better. When the Pandemic happened Marvel should have taken the opportunity to slowdown instead of unleashing way too much in 2021 and letting it wreck the Multiverse of Madness/No Way Home plans. Infinity War & Endgame being the biggest thing in the world was the worst thing that could happen to them, success defeated them and now they're trying to put the pieces back together with this next Avengers.

Substantial_Oil_49232026-01-05 09:31

I'm still waiting for the 10 rings to return. His sister, Xia Ling, taking over the reigns and reforming the Rings would be interesting.

SpiffySpacemanSpiff2026-01-05 17:46

Counterpoint, but would it though? It kind of invalidates the whole resolution of Shang beating his father and taking down the head (and basically the rest) of the Ten Rings.

I mean, give him something new to work against, not just the same organization he already dealt with. It becomes stale at a certain point.

V2Blast2026-01-06 04:23

Yeah, if anything, I could see the Ten Rings coming back as more of a mercenary group, possibly on the side of good. It's not interesting to bring them back as just a villain group yet again.

Valentinee1052026-01-05 09:39

Keep in mind everything up until now are Covid productions. Cap 4 was the last film done during Covid.

Everyone was screwed on scheduling and every time Marvel turned around another disaster was happening.

tgf52026-01-05 09:39

Naturally charismatic? Leading man presence? No lol.

kulitchipon2026-01-05 09:53

Great thing about opinions is we can have different ones!

Jackielegs432026-01-05 10:24

Yeah Simu Liu fucken rocks. Absolutely has what it takes to lead.

smakson112026-01-05 10:41

What if. Hear me out. They don’t think they’ll make enough money.

z4guy2026-01-05 10:54

The fighting and choreography is the most beautiful I’ve seen in the MCU. It’s great to have an eastern style of action in a franchise filled with western style action. Plus I love that they delved into Asian and Chinese culture a bit. I saw a lot of my mom and dad in Shang Chi’s parents. I really resonated with the movie. I felt represented, and we rarely get a male Asian lead in Hollywood.

Ornery-Extension46512026-01-05 11:10

Hello marvel I want u to make my own oc in marvel, his name is Mr beluga, he is a beluga whale that wears a suit, his secret is that he is actually an alien that is a guardian with these special powers, mind reading, durability, and reality warping, I want u to make a comic about him for his villain to be the beyonder, galactis, molecule man or Dr doom, I’m begging u please to make it for me, it’s been my dream.

Away_Reason_61882026-01-05 11:29

The pieces were there I just don’t think it got executed quite the way it should’ve. They should’ve taken more from the actual deadly hands of Kung-Fu comics & really leaned into being a classic Kung-Fu film tribute.

colderstates2026-01-05 12:09

Marvel decided what the audience wanted was new characters, lots of new characters, all the new characters.

I suspect this was partly a feeling that nothing could fail after the banner years of 2015-19, partly to shake it up a little bit, and partly to avoid burning through big characters and actors so quickly.

So yes, Shang Chi didn’t get a sequel, but neither did anything else really. The only character with two films in this entire saga is Spider-man, and that’s only because there is an outside partner pushing for one.

I assume whatever comes next will return to a format more like phases 1-3, with more recurring characters and sequels.

Degan7472026-01-05 18:23

Several characters were in multiple projects, and Yelena was in Hawkeye and was the co-lead in multiple movies. Even if they weren’t doing Shang-Chi 2 right away, they could have put him in anything.

eagc72026-01-05 21:27

Doctor Strange is a pretty great example, there was a 6 year gap between the first film and 2nd film, but (2020 aside for obvious reasons) Strange was used at least in 1 project per year.

Consistent-King64082026-01-05 12:14

So why hasn't he landed other leading man roles in the meanwhile ?

accidental_tourist2026-01-05 13:52

Shang-Chi was the one I thought would have a sequel soon after for sure

Antrikshy2026-01-06 00:31

Sequel was even confirmed soon after release. After that, who knows what happened?

kaychyakay2026-01-05 14:07

Ever wonder how projects related to non-White actors are facing limbo? Shang-Chi, Blade, Eternals?

Marvel's former head, Ike Perlmutter, was also known to be a racist, and he allegedly even said that no one will notice when they replace Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as Rhodes.

Maybe it is a coincidence and I am just overthinking, or maybe this is some pattern we are missing?

hellsbellltrudy2026-01-06 00:13

or maybe he was the Glue to keeping everything together? hate him or whatever, but he and Kevin/marvel work well together. Check and balance.

fuzzyfoot882026-01-05 14:35

If you watch fan edits of FATWS that turn it into a movie, and you look at the in universe timeline (which generally dictates an order or flow of production), it’s very obvious that marvel very much had a plan post endgame before the Disney+ mandates came down and took over everything for that phase damaging the brand.

So much so, that characters got pushed out further and further to the point that no one knew WHEN we’d see anyone again. Which led us to Chadwick, Majors, and the complete overhaul to right the ship before Doomsday.

If Disney had left Marvel alone and not imposed anything on them, this saga would likely be VERY different than it is currently, including sequels to several films that never got any.

closetsquirrel2026-01-05 14:36

It’s not that they didn’t want to, it’s that Marvel went too big. Their franchises practically doubled compared to phase three, they had nearly a dozen TV shows, and they wanted to put out like six movies a year. In the end it was too much so they had to dial things back, and unfortunately getting franchises off the ground (Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, etc.) became priority so they could be included in Doomsday and beyond.

We will get a sequel, but it’ll be a bit unfortunately.

TheSmokedSalmon4202026-01-05 14:42

Yep.

Adorable_Ad_34782026-01-05 14:54

Phases 4-5 were a big mess.

Even if Shang Chi 2 wasn't gonna happen, the character should have appeared in other projects.

Who fucking cares about Falcon Jr? Put Shang Chi in CA4 as Sam's co-lead. Shang Chi with the 10 Rings vs Red Hulk would have rocked. Make him a guest star in one She-Hulk episode alongside Wong. Include him in a funny Doctor Strange 2 post credit scene.

Anything.

muevelos2026-01-05 14:58

Shang Chi and Indra from the 100 are enough reasons to watch Copenhagen by itself.

eolson32026-01-05 15:35

They could just make a sitcom with the characters from *Shang-Chi* hanging out and getting into non-superhero shenanigans. I would binge it immediately.

DesperateFreedom2462026-01-05 16:00

He tore his Achilles in late 2023. Said it took him 9 months to successfully do a tumble pass. Since he did a lot of his own stunts, I'm sure that killed the schedule for a while, be it training or filming. Certainly can't be the only reason.

JoshClarke2026-01-05 16:06

Shang Chi wasn’t the problem. It was marvel delivering a truckload of flops after that. From Eternals to Ant-Man 3 to Thor 4. There was risk when their established properties weren’t even doing well

IAmFern2026-01-05 16:11

I liked the first half of Shang-Chi, but it got too CGI-heavy as the movie went on.

AnonymousFriend802026-01-05 16:12

"I really like this guy in all the stuff I've seen him in. Marvel should have locked him down for many, many projects so he wouldn't have the time to do all those projects I like."

zeroxray2026-01-05 16:22

For me simu was decent but Tony leung was the real reason why shang chi worked. Not sure how they would do a 2 without him but I'll watch for sure.

FlipDaly2026-01-05 17:08

I mean, I think you know why. It’s the racism. Movies that do well starring minority characters are always seen as flukes. Look what happened to Sinners.

Player2LightWater2026-01-06 05:27

Sinners wasn't meant to have sequel.

CaptHayfever2026-01-05 17:14

Scheduling issue, moreso than anything else.

fuzzay2026-01-05 17:23

Shang chi was great until they went to CGI Land and were fighting dragons. The movie should have been more grounded dealing with his Dad.

moby__dick2026-01-05 17:24

The waited so long the next one will be Son of Shang Chi

leviair-seadragon2026-01-05 17:55

People are talking about a sequel not being made, but not including the character in any Phase 4 or Phase 5 films was the biggest, most unforgivable fumble by Marvel. If RDJ can be second billing in a Cap film, and appear in a supporting role in a Spider-Man film, then where the hell is Simu Liu for Spider-man? Ant-man, the Marvels, or Cap 4?? Especially Ant-man because they're in San Francisco together.

DoctorJJWho2026-01-08 15:25

Simu Liu probably could’ve been the next RDJ/Evans for MCU if they used him properly. He was young, charismatic, and pretty universally loved after Barbie. Such a waste.

_________FU_________2026-01-05 18:04

Shang Chi is such a good character. The movie is an easy watch and really does a great job at building the world. The fight scene between the parents is one of my top scenes in the MCU. I would rather than wait until they have the perfect follow up vs rushing one out, but also the longer they wait the harder it will be

langjie2026-01-05 18:06

the issue was the plan was to fight kang but when jonathan majors got arrested, it threw a wrench into the plan

ihsotas2026-01-05 18:25

Copenhagen test is surprisingly good. Hoping Simu builds on it for the next phase of his career.

VarietyBusy22026-01-05 18:26

i was watching shang chi yesterday and honestly couldn’t believe there wasn’t 4 more of these movies already out as good as it was

DiscountImmediate8012026-01-05 18:30

I find him grating personally. He has a habit of sticking his foot in mouth (boba tea, Chapek comments despite how one feels about Chapek, etc)

And after Shang-Chi it felt like he became sort of braggadocios about being an MCU star. He would practically mention it every other day even when speaking on something unrelated.

But hey that’s just my opinion, although I’ve seen it shared by others and wonder if it had an impact or if he just stuck his foot in his mouth when talking to Feige behind the scenes or something.

clashrendar2026-01-05 18:39

Every time I hear his name I can't help singing *"Simu Liu... and Doug"*

foxfoxal2026-01-05 18:53

You see this is the problem when you have 343453 franchises... And the whole Kang situation made them change plans as well.

It's not that they did not want to do more Shang Chi.

HI-McDunnough2026-01-05 18:53

Whatever the behind-the-scenes reasons are, I'm really bummed about this one. It was so fresh and exciting when it came out that it got me hyped for the MCU again, and then... nothing.

rohithkumarsp2026-01-05 19:36

I just re-watched it today since the first time I watched it during covid, the fights were is energetic, the themes were so personal, the music war good. Cgi was mid but the post credits was so interesting. And I just googled where is shang chi 2

FancyJob38382026-01-05 20:23

Isnt the shang chi director also directing the live action naruto movie? Isnt that 1 of the reasons we haven't seen shang chi 2 yet?

eagc72026-01-05 21:15

He's currently doing Spider-Man 4

blackbutterfree2026-01-05 20:25

They fumbled the entire Multiverse Saga. Kept expanding and expanding the universe instead of introducing a few new core characters and working them into beloved heroes like the originals.

faithdies2026-01-06 05:45

They just had too many interesting projects too quickly and couldn't pay them all off. Hell, I think the Eternals deserved more. And that's not even Shang Chi.

SqueakyTHROWER2026-01-06 06:58

To be honest, he kinda disappointed me in his debut. He’s really good in Kim’s Convenience but I feel his performance kinda fell flat in Shang-Chi… like he’s too timid to let out his charisma he showed in Kim’s maybe cause he felt so much pressure being in a marvel movie, that being a new phase after Endgame and all?

Idk, but I hope he feels a lot more comfortable now and maybe even steal the show in Doomsday… or just be memorable in the sea of stars that movie has.

Peanut_Butter_Toast2026-01-06 07:34

Instead of Quantumania we really should have gotten a smaller scale Avengers film in 2023 or 2024 focused on the current Avengers team dealing with the threats set up in the Shang Chi post credits and Doctor Strange post credits. Line-up should've been Cap 3.0, Shang Chi, Black Panther 2.0, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Hulk.

Quantumania was the moment so much of the MCU hype deflated, they could have avoided that if they'd had a solid Avengers film instead that fleshed out the current roster so we'd already have an investment in their interpersonal dynamics before going into the massive mega crossover that Doomsday and Secret Wars will be.

tLM-tRRS-atBHB2026-01-06 09:20

Phase 4 wasnt aimless. It was a reintroduction of a much larger cast of heroes.

Secret Wars is about Heroes vs Heroes, so they had to get as many as possible out so they can make appearances in the final battle.

I dont understand why people cant see that

turkeygiant2026-01-06 15:49

I dont know if this is true or not, but I remember when Shang-Chi came out some people said that "asians didn't like him" as in he was perfectly handsome and charming to people in the US, but he didn't have the right superficial "look" to appeal to native Chinese/Korean/Japanese audiences as a leading man. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney had hoped Shang-Chi would unlock new audiences but were dissapointed when they didn't have the read that overseas they want Mackenyu not Simu.

DangleenChordOfLife2026-01-07 00:14

It was one of the best ones after end Game, they just let It there marinating for nothing, while thinking how to reheat those old already eaten nachos. I would have loved a secuel of Shang chi and his sister being a mafia lord and Wong, for some reason, because he is Great and funny

Living_Yard87262026-01-07 07:30

![gif](giphy|rT2VaTsUTaw7K)

Zomg_A_Chicken2026-01-07 00:30

Apparently the director is also doing a live action Naruto

qcthunder2026-01-07 01:26

It's not too late! (But yeah, we should have had "Shang-Chi 2" by now.) I truly hope he gets a good amount of screen time in Doomsday and Secret Wars.