Will Shang-Chi 2 Happen?
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings released in theaters in September 2021. Despite releasing during the middle of the pandemic, it did solid box office numbers and even got great reviews. Ever since then people have been wanting to see a Shang-Chi sequel and more of the character. It has now been over five years, and no firm updates or progress has been made about this film. Will it ever happen? Or will Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings remain a one and done movie franchise? Let us talk about it!
My Thoughts/Predictions
Like most people, I have wanted a sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. I thought it was a solid movie with a great lead character, and I like that it was something different in the MCU. This is the only martial arts movie in the MCU and so the action here is fantastic and feels different from other MCU action set pieces because martial arts is a very distinct type of action. I like Simu Liu as an actor, he was a lot of fun in Barbie. Beyond that, he seems like a good guy. If you have seen his social media presence, then you know what I am talking about. But also, I read his biography and it was interesting. I do like that we are getting more of him in Avengers: Doomsday, and hopefully he gets some awesome moments and reminds people that he is a great character.
But with the delayed production of this movie and it being five years and sequel has not started filming yet alone has not even been green-lit is a bit concerning about whether this movie will happen. Both Simu Liu and the director Destin Daniel Cretton have been giving updates and saying that a sequel is happening, but that has been the only updates we have gotten about this movie really. I think the big reason for a delayed production of the movie is related to the over-saturation problem that Marvel had for a while. In Phases 4 and 5 they were introducing so many new characters and it got to the point where we all knew they could not follow all of this up. It felt like they were throwing stuff to the audience and seeing what stuck. So, they made Eternals, and that did not really work. They tried to introduce new characters like Moon Knight and She-Hulk: Attorneys at Law and I doubt we will ever see them again. What happened with this movie is they did not have any plans to do a sequel. Instead of doing a Shang-Chi sequel we got random tv shows that nobody was asking for and that is frustrating. It is so obvious that a sequel should be made, they teased a sequel at the end of the first film. They teased that Shang-Chi has connections to Wong, and they should have done a Shang-Chi and Doctor Strange team-up movie as the sequel. That would’ve gotten people excited to check it out, but they did not and now it has been five years, and we still do not have a sequel. I know that Simu Liu and Destin Daniel Cretton want a sequel, Kevin Feige loves the character, so I am sure he wants a sequel to the movie, and most importantly the fans want a sequel! We want a sequel to this movie because they created a world and character that we want more of.
Recently the production of a Shang-Chi is more in jeopardy because of a smaller independent film called Spider-Man: Brand New Day. If you did not know this, the director of Shang-Chi, Destin Daniel Cretton also directed Brand New Day. That movie has made $2.5 billion at the box office; it is the third highest grossing movie of all time. And just yesterday it surpassed Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens to be the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office. Sony and Marvel are wanting a fifth Spider-Man movie with Tom Holland to be made, and it is extremely likely that Destin Daniel Cretton is directing that movie. Cretton is also signed on to direct a Naruto movie and recently it is announced he will be doing a Hawaii 5-O movie, which means the likelihood of him doing a Shang-Chi sequel seems very unlikely. What is more likely to happen is for Destin Daniel Cretton to focus on Spider-Man and somebody else directed Shang-Chi 2, but Cretton is still involved with the movie, as a producer and/or in the story department.
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