Five Years Later, One MCU Hero's Official Avengers: Doomsday Debut Shows The Multiverse Saga's Biggest Problem

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released in theaters five years ago on September 3rd, 2021, introducing audiences to Simu Liu as one of the Marvel Universe’s resident martial arts heroes. We were also introduced to Shang-Chi’s dynamic and complex family history with the major MCU organization known as the Ten Rings, while also inheriting the powerful Ten Rings artifacts themselves by the movie’s end.

Following the major battle in the mystical city of Ta-Lo, the movie’s post-credits scene saw Shang-Chi and his friend Katy invited to Kamar-Taj to meet with Wong, Bruce Banner, and Captain Marvel. Together, they discussed the Ten Rings, their unknown origins, and the ongoing distress signal they were sending out. While this was clearly a tease for more adventures to come, it’s been five years and Shang-Chi hasn’t been seen in the main live-action MCU since.

In the interim, Liu has only provided his voice for animated projects set in alternate universes like Marvel’s What If…? and Marvel Zombies. Now, Shang-Chi is showing up in Avengers: Doomsday with the Ten Rings mystery likely unsolved, and no known established connections to any other confirmed characters for the MCU’s next major crossover.

Every Other Avengers: Doomsday Hero Has Established Avengers/Team History

More than any other MCU hero confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, Shang-Chi doesn’t really know anybody else (as far as we know).

In the primary 616 timeline, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Joaquin Torres, Bucky Barnes, Scott Lang, Thor and Loki have all appeared in previous Avengers stories and/or shared major adventures with each other. The same goes for Shuri’s Black Panther, M’Baku, Namor, and the Wakandans. Likewise, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S. Agent, and Sentry are all on a new MCU team as the recently assembled New Avengers.

Even the heroes coming from other worlds in the multiverse have a leg-up over Shang-Chi, seeing how both the X-Men and Fantastic Four have each other as established teams of heroes in their respective realities. Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are Marvel’s classic First Family, while Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Beast, Mystique, Gambit, and Nightcrawler will no doubt have clear team history and connections as well.

By comparison, Shang-Chi’s debut movie was fairly isolated with little to no interactions with the other Avengers or heroes. Those he did interact with all too briefly, like Wong and Captain Marvel, haven’t been confirmed for Doomsday. That said, Banner was seemingly teased in the post-credits scenes attached to Avengers: Endgame Encore, having been captured by Victor von Doom himself in the wake of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Regardless, Shang-Chi’s official Avengers debut comes with far less narrative groundwork and connections compared to everyone else, which really shouldn’t be the case seeing how he was first introduced over five years ago. Likewise, his status quo heading into Avengers: Doomsday is very indicative of the biggest Multiverse Saga issue, as so many different heroes were introduced with very little follow-up. While Shang-Chi is one of the biggest names, several more heroes are also still waiting in the wings, including Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Werewolf by Night, Hercules, Clea, Black Knight, and Blade (to name just a handful).

Avengers: Doomsday Needs To Give Shang-Chi An Off-Screen MCU History

None of this is to say that Shang-Chi should have appeared in every MCU project since his debut film to meaningfully be established ahead of Avengers: Doomsday. That being said, five years is a very long time to leave such a major (and popular) hero completely outside the greater MCU narrative, not to mention the absence of meaningful movement on a Shang-Chi sequel.

At this point, Avengers: Doomsday will hopefully solve the issue somewhat by revealing what Shang-Chi has been up to in the five years since his solo movie. Perhaps he’s continued to work alongside Wong, or has been trying to uncover the secrets of the Ten Rings on his own with Katy’s help. Even just a quick reference establishing that Shang-Chi has worked with some of these other Avengers in the past off-screen would be nice.

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It’s not perfect, but just a few details covering the five-year interim for Shang-Chi would be better than nothing. Even Simu Liu himself has teased new growth for Shang-Chi in the years since his first MCU movie. It’d be great to learn what might have led to that growth.

The ending of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings introduced a very exciting mystery and future for Shang-Chi, one that likely would have connected to Kang and the Multiverse Saga’s original plans before pivoting to Doomsday. While the behind-the-scenes circumstances leading to Marvel Studios making the switch make sense, the hope is that Shang-Chi will still be given the spotlight he deserves in some form once Doomsday hits theaters at the end of the year.

While The Fantastic Four and X-Men are arriving from other realities with established bonds, there’s currently no reason to expect anything other than Shang-Chi effectively being a stranger to most of the heroes on his own Earth. Here’s hoping Doomsday will take the opportunity to fix that by at least referencing Shang-Chi’s unseen history since 2021, though the fact that the film has to do that at all feels like a pretty clear signal as to how disconnected the Multiverse Saga has felt compared to the previous Infinity Saga.

Avengers: Doomsday releases in theaters on December 18th from Marvel Studios.

Avengers: Doomsday

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  Robert Downey Jr.

  Victor von Doom

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  Pedro Pascal

  Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic

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  Chris Hemsworth

  Thor

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  Vanessa Kirby

  Sue Storm / Invisible Woman