Shang-Chi 2: What We’d Like to See In The MCU Sequel

Highlights

• Shang-Chi is missing in action at the moment, but the MCU needs to confirm a sequel to the hero’s well-received first appearance sooner rather than later.
• Whether a solo sequel appears before or after the end of the Multiverse Saga, there’s plenty of potential to expand on the first film’s cultural representation and likable central character.
• When it comes to its villains, choreographed set-pieces and scope, Shang-Chi 2 needs to go large.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a breath of fresh air when released in 2021. It was the first solo movie to introduce a new Marvel character after the epic conclusion of the Infinity Saga and skillfully mixed MCU’s familiar origin beats with brilliant universe-broadening. Its reception and the rich fabric it brought to the MCU made it an ideal candidate for a sequel, especially as the titular hero is expected to be a key part, if not a leader, of the next iteration of the Avengers.

But incredibly, nothing’s been seen of Xu Shang-Chi since his movie debut, despite the promise of the movie’s mid-credit scene. Even Wong and Abomination have appeared since, so Shang-Chi’s disappearance is one of the great questions the MCU has to answer, up there with the great stone celestial left in the Indian Ocean during Eternals.

Does the MCU Need Another Shang-Chi movie?

At the halfway point of Phase 5, it’s still unclear which Marvel heroes will form the new-look Avengers when they assemble in 2026. Still, it’s hard to see Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi not taking a key role. Despite dropping into the MCU just after the Blip, there’s no sign of the hero’s return, with the potential that Shang-Chi won’t get a solo outing until after Avengers: Secret Wars closes the Multiverse Saga in 2027.

The mid-credit scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings revealed Shaun and his best buddy Katy didn’t take long to join group chats with the Avengers, including Miss Marvel and Bruce Banner. As Banner told the pair, “welcome to the circus,” Wong warned them, “the trajectory of your lives will be like nothing you have experienced before.” Well, they’ve had a lot of rest since.

Shang-Chi and his friends and family are among the standout additions in recent phases, and their journey can play a considerable role in enhancing the MCU. The first film has an impressive 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the franchise’s most popular chapters, so it’s got to happen. Even if fans have to wait until after the next Avengers two-hander, they’ll welcome the return of almost every element from the first film, except, perhaps, karaoke.

More Of Shang-Chi’s Rich Culture

Shang-Chi introduced an Asian influence into the MCU with style. Reviews recognized that it opened the franchise up to fans of Asian descent just as Black Panther had for audiences of African descent. But unlike the brilliance of afro-futurist Wakanda, Shang-Chi tied cultures together from an American base.

Establishing its hero and his best friend in San Francisco was a brilliant comment on first-generation Asian Americans confronting and dealing with the traditions and wishes of their predecessors that the film’s fantastic plot ran with. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ring’s stars took their responsibility very seriously, and the result was clear. The film’s treatment of cultural identity is just one example of setting a template for other movies to follow, including Shang-Chi 2.

A Deeper Dive Into The MCU Underground

If there’s no Wong spin-off series, Shang-Chi 2 is an ideal chance to show the underground repercussions of the MCU’s dimensional and spatial events. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings showed how the world has slowly diverged from the one fans know. While core storylines of the MCU have bounced along on massive events like the Battle of New York and Sokovia, the movie headed in a different direction.

Xu Xialing’s Golden Daggers Club in Macau featured underground fights between Helen from Black Widow’s Red Room and an Extremis fighter from Iron Man 3, alongside some skullduggery from Wong as the Sorcerer Supreme took on Abomination. These light nods to the expanded universe are a great strength in the MCU and, if used well, can smooth over issues like Shang-Chi disappearing for half a decade.

Shang-Chi As Leader

Shang-Chi had the fastest ticket into the Avengers since Nick Fury sneaked past Tony Stark’s security, but his first outing left him a way off Captain America’s levels of leadership. Despite his power and innate training, Shang-Chi doesn’t have the grounded experience of working in a team that Cap earned the hard way during WWII.

It looks like Shang-Chi is following Captain America’s journey, which bodes well as that hero followed up a second appearance in The Avengers with an MCU highlight: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Iron Man 3 had another approach, as it showed the debilitating effects of sacrifice on Tony Stark. Shang-Chi 2 can give us a different take on both original Avengers. That applies to Katy, too, who underwent an impressive heroic journey in the first film. They make a power couple capable of showing the responsibility that comes with great magic. Should Shang-Chi 2 sneak into one of the secret MCU slots before the Multiverse Saga ends, it needs to put an emphasis on their growth into two of the MCU’s premier defenders.

A Superheroic Struggle With Family

The first Shang-Chi movie laid out a compelling family-based drama, and the sequel has to supersize it. Despite their reunion and working together at the film’s climax, the post-credit scene showed Xu Xialing had diverged from her brother. Pretending to shut down her father Xu Wenwu’s operations, she seized control of the Ten Rings, potentially making her one of the key antagonists in the MCU. As she said:

Let’s get started. We have a lot of work to do.

Fans will expect those consequences to pay off in the sequel, but they shouldn’t be solved. It’s been a while since sibling rivalry has had such compelling potential in the MCU, having moved beyond the issues between Thor and Loki and Gamora and Nebula.

A Broadening Of Magic In The MCU

Fans need a break after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness wrenched apart the Multiverse, sent Scarlet Witch to the dark side, and exposed Doctor Strange. It would be nice to see magic’s colorful, powerful, and lighter impact on the MCU, and Shang-Chi 2 is just the film to do it.

The franchise’s magical expansion could mean Shang-Chi stepping into the Sanctum Santor or a team-up between Ta Lo and Kamar-Taj. The young hero has a vital role to play in bringing the full fabric of Marvel to movie theaters, not least magic.

Bigger And Better Fights

The fight sequences in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings were an undeniable highlight. Choreographed by the much-missed stunt coordinator Brad Allan Cretton and members of the Jackie Chan Stunt team, its incredible combat combined different fighting styles, including wushu and kinetic techniques.

The result was the most stunning combat to grace a Marvel film, starting with the incredible San Francisco bus set-piece. The sequel needs to find a way to push the bus, or boat, out even more, with no limit to the magical possibilities.

A Bigger Villain

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings skillfully replayed the age-old idea of a son overthrowing his father. Xu Wenwu was a blend of two classic Marvel villains — Fu Manchu (who Marvel no longer has rights to use) and the Mandarin — that successfully sidestepped the problematic elements of the characters and, with Trevor Slattery’s amusing cameo, the controversial parts of Iron Man 3. True, Shang-Chi 2 could introduce Marvel’s Zheng Zu, Marvel’s retconned version of Fu Manchu and a powerful sorcerer threat. But it could also strive to make a real statement with its villain and not run the risk of playing into the criticisms of similar Marvel villains.

In the mid-credit scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wong revealed a beacon transmitting from deep in the mystic rings. If that’s a link to Kang, it wasn’t transmitting to the Quantum Realm, but the destination could be resolved in the next Avengers film. An alternative is that it’s signaling to the legendary Shang-Chi and Iron Man foe, Fin Fang Foom. Like the first film’s antagonists, the alien dragon lord would need reframing to avoid some problematic traits but could strengthen Shang-Chi’s story. Hints of the dragon’s existence appeared as early as 2008’s Iron Man, and the comic book villain undoubtedly influenced the heroic Great Protector in the first movie.

Other exciting options that could connect and expand the MCU include porting The Hand across from Daredevil or introducing the villain, Mr Negative. Whatever the film’s main villain or villain, it must go big.