Shang-Chi Officially Announced as Marvel’s New Avenger

Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi is the newest Avenger as officially announced by Marvel Studios. As of now, the latest chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is playing in theaters. A new television spot released by Marvel to promote the release introduces Shang-Chi as “Marvel’s new Avenger,”making his inclusion in the iconic superhero team official. You can watch the video below.

“In terms of what’s next, I know what’s on my mind is the same as what’s on everybody else’s mind. And hopefully, there’s an Avengers in the future, somewhere,” Liu, who makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Shang-Chi, previously told THR about a future Avengers 5. “Obviously, I don’t know anything about that, but being such a big fan of the whole franchise, I know that that’s the gold star. All of the media frenzy that surrounds one of those properties is going to be a whole beast unto itself, so it’s certainly what I hope for.”

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In response to the positive reception of Shang-Chi, Marvel head Kevin Feige told ComicBook.com: “The early reactions to the characters and to [Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings] itself gives me great hope that people will want to see more of these characters. We certainly have many ideas of where to take them and where to put them… We know the movie’s working when it’s not just the title character that people ask about, but it is the co-stars or the supporting players that people ask about.”

Feige added: “And in this movie in particular, that’s heartening because we think they’re spectacular. And we think they have great potential in the future.”

Destin Daniel Cretton directs Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings using a script co-written with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham. Simu Liu stars in the lead role as Shang-Chi, marking the Marvel comic book character’s debut in the MCU. Also starring as Awkwafina as Katy, Meng-er Zhang as Xu Xialing, Fala Chen as Ying Li, Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist, Benedict Wong as Wong, Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan, Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, and Tony Leung as Xu Wenwu.

We can presume Avengers 5 is inevitable, but it’s not going to be here for some time to come. Marvel Studios will need time to assemble a new team for the next big crossover to work as effectively as Avengers: Endgame, and bringing in Shang-Chi to headline his own solo movie is a great start. The rest of the titles of the MCU’s Phase Four have also been already mapped out and there’s no room on the schedule at this time for something like Avengers 5. Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home are coming later this year with 2022’s releases including new solo sequels for Doctor Strange, Thor, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters. Unlike Black Widow, it was not given a day and date release on Disney+, as it will first have a 45-day run exclusive to theaters. The new TV spot for the movie comes to us from Marvel Entertainment on YouTube.

Topics: Avengers, Shang-Chi

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