It has barely been three months since Marvel’s first Asian-led superhero flick, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, made its theatrical debut, but news of a sequel is already making waves online.
According to Variety, Destin Daniel Cretton will return as writer and director for the follow-up flick, though no release date has been confirmed.
The first movie, starring Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu, premiered in the US over Labor Day weekend and remains the strongest performer at the domestic box office, earning 224.5 million USD so far. It also raked in 207.5 million USD internationally — an impressive pull, but nothing compared to the highest-grossing film in Chinese history, released in October.
Liu himself took to Twitter on January 6 to share the news in his characteristically tongue-in-cheek fashion. His post has since gathered more than 170,000 likes.
Flopped so hard we got a sequel!! https://t.co/69yPeuX2ma
— Simu Liu (刘思慕) (@SimuLiu) December 6, 2021
As fans of Marvel are well aware, the franchise often likes to throw in an extra scene after the credits roll, typically hinting at what’s to come in subsequent films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In the case of Shang-Chi, there were actually two bonus scenes at the end, one of which came partway through the credits.
The first scene features cameos from Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) of the Avengers, peering at the ten rings in what appears to be the home of Doctor Strange.
The second scene shows Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) at the helm of her father’s Ten Rings army — now a primarily female ensemble.
In addition to Liu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Tony Leung, one of Hong Kong’s best-known actors, along with Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, and Nanjing-born Meng’er Zhang in her first mainstream film role.
Destin Daniel Cretton at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con International. Image via Wikimedia
Shang-Chi was Cretton’s first foray into the MCU, and he described the experience as “one of the highlights of my life.”
In addition to the sequel, he is reportedly working on a Marvel series that will air on Disney+. Little is known about the project, but Variety reports that it will be a comedy. Meanwhile, NME.com claims the Disney+ series will be a spinoff of the films, though the publication provided no source for the claim.
“I’m really excited to see all of these characters start to interact with the other members of the MCU and go to places that we haven’t gone before,” said Cretton in a September interview with Screen Rant.
Cretton recently signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Marvel Studios and Hulu’s Onyx Collective, both owned by the Walt Disney Company, so we can expect to see plenty more from the talented filmmaker.
Given that the first movie adaptation didn’t make it to Chinese theaters, we’re not getting our hopes up about a China premiere for the sequel. Heck, we’re still anxiously awaiting a China release date for Spider-Man: No Way Home by year’s end.
Cover image via IMDb
