Photo Credit: Marvel Studios
Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was an unexpected blockbuster when it hit theaters in September. The action-filled martial arts film introduced the Master of Kung Fu, Shang-Chi, and gave context to the character’s backstory for modern audiences. It also made Marvel an astonishing amount of money.
Shang-Chi had the biggest Labor Day opening weekend of any movie in history, eventually raking in a total of $221 million. That’s a big enough sum for Marvel to already have plans for their martial arts superstar: rumor has it that the film’s sequel has already been greenlit and is in pre-production right now.
Hollywood scuttlebutt holds that Shang-Chi 2 is now in pre-production at Marvel Studios in addition to two other long-awaited projects. A report first posted by GWW indicates that Shang-Chi 2 is now in development alongside a standalone film for the superhero Nova and a team-up movie for the reformed villain group, the Thunderbolts.
As of the time of this writing, Marvel has not commented on the report.
Before the first film even premiered, Marvel Studios’ head honcho Kevin Feige told reporters the studio had plans for a follow-up. This comes as no surprise. Marvel’s entire cinematic universe functions as an ongoing series of interlocking sequels and spin-offs.
Still, the rumor is an encouraging sign for fans of the Master of Kung Fu. They won’t need to wait long to see him back on the big screen. The film will probably enter production in 2023, so it’s likely to release in 2024 or 2025.
Spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follow after this point.
Shang-Chi’s solo film ends with a chilling post-credits sequence. The protagonist’s sister, Xialing, takes command of the Ten Rings organization, explicitly going against Shang’s wishes. This could set her up as the villain of future installments in the character’s story. Xialing would be a compelling antagonist for Shan-Chi to face on his own, given their troubled history.
Another teaser in the film’s final moments hints that the character’s actual Ten Rings, the ones he inherited from his father Wenwu, could be the center of a future story. The MCU versions of these rings have little backstory aside from being ancient and powerful. In the comics, the Ten Rings are artifacts of an alien civilization called Makluans. The follow-up to Shang-Chi could reveal who created these mysterious devices, potentially introducing another antagonistic force to the MCU.
