Exclusive: Shang-Chi 2 Is Officially Happening
We've exclusively learned that Shang-Chi 2 is really going to happen.
Update: This Giant Freakin Robot exclusive was confirmed, and Shang-Chi 2 was officially confirmed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the new Marvel movie, opened during Labor Day weekend in the United States to a surprising box office success. While the Delta variant had many concerned about the new film’s changes in movie theaters, it has already proven to be a big financial success in 2021 for the studio. Now, we’ve exclusively learned from one of our trusted and proven inside sources that Marvel has already moved forward and officially green-lit Shang-Chi 2.
We were unable to learn when the studio will publicly make an announcement for Shang-Chi 2, though we expect it will happen soon. The studio has seen some controversy in recent months. Following the release of Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney, Marvel’s parent company. That’s not a great look for the company. This has raised more questions about their upcoming release strategies. Recent reports have said that directors have backed away from making deals with Marvel at the moment because of their release strategies and their current lawsuit. What do these blemishes on their public image have to do with a Shang-Chi 2 announcement? Announcing the sequel as soon as possible will help show that they have confidence in their releases and are moving forward with new projects as a strong company.
While the announcement of Shang-Chi 2 may seem very soon, we saw Disney do something similar with their release of Free Guy. They announced that sequel just after the opening weekend. With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings bringing in a surprising $90 million over its opening weekend, a sequel announced very soon falls in line with what Disney has been doing lately.
So what can we expect from Shang-Chi 2, and when? Kevin Feige, the head boss at Marvel, has said that the first film syncs into where the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe story is going ahead. His comments have made it sound like he sees where the sequel for this film will also go. Thanks to the first film and the mid-credits and post-credits scenes, we know that the characters from the first film are part of the larger storyline ahead.
The characters definitely feel like they are here to stay, a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ahead. We know that these characters are going to continue to level up their knowledge, powers, and become part of the wider vision in Marvel’s future. However, what we don’t know is a lot in terms of where a direct sequel will fall. It seems most likely that Shang-Chi 2 will be part of Marvel’s Phase 5. In terms of getting production handled, the soonest we could see a direct sequel is perhaps 2023, through 2024 seems more likely and 2025 is entirely possible.
When Shang-Chi 2 is announced, they aren’t likely to give us too firm of a timeline. There are just too many more Marvel movies ahead. What we can expect is that, with these new characters now part of the MCU and leading into a sequel, we’ll be seeing them in other Marvel films along the way.
