Kevin Feige recently teased that it won’t be too long before we see some major characters from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings make their return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but until the movie premieres on September 3rd we’ve got no idea how it connects to the rest of the shared universe.
The mystical elements brought to the table by the Ten Rings would appear to position it in the same sort of fantastical pocket of the mythology as Doctor Strange or WandaVision, but the organization themselves date right back to Iron Man and have close ties to Robert Downey Jr.’s solo trilogy. It’s going to be hugely exciting to discover how it all fits into the grand tapestry of the MCU, but it’s looking increasingly likely we’ll be seeing a lot more of Simu Liu’s title hero in the future regardless of how everything ties together.
According to our sources – the same ones who told us Riri Williams would make her MCU debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever weeks before it was confirmed yesterday – Kevin Feige has massive plans in store for Shang-Chi, who the company’s Chief Creative Officer reportedly wants to position as the franchise’s premiere expert in hand-to-hand combat, making him a valuable ally and even more dangerous enemy.
The early reactions to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have called Liu a megastar in waiting who delivers a charming and effortlessly charismatic leading performance to complement his abilities in the ass-kicking department, so it wouldn’t be a huge shock if the MCU were to utilize one of its newest and perhaps finest assets as much as possible moving forward.