The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a well-oiled machine, thanks to its steady stream of new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Arguably the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movie is Avengers: Doomsday, which will feature a stellar ensemble cast. That includes Simu Liu's Shang-Chi, who had a funny response to fans who say the studio finally "remembered" about his movie. Let's break it all down.
What we know about Avengers: Doomsday is extremely limited, with fans filling in the blanks with theories and rumors. The Doomsday trailer finally treated folks to footage, including Shang-Chi fighting Gambit. Folks sounded off on Twitter, hyped that Liu's character was finally returning to the MCU. He ended up responding to one of them, which you can see below:
👀 https://t.co/uNemeQFiFiJuly 20, 2026
While Shang-Chi's sequel has been delayed a number of times, Liu seems thrilled about finally being able to return to the MCU as part of the Avengers: Doomsday cast list. The Kim's Convenience actor has been honest about wanting to see his burgeoning franchise continue, but for now his mysterious role in the next Avengers movie will help keep Shang-Chi at the top of mind for fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order.
Liu's debut movie was a big success when it hit theaters back in 2021, and Shang-Chi's credits scene teased his role in the larger MCU, likely as an Avenger. But he's been noticeably absent since, albeit from the character's brief appearances in the animated series What If...?
The end of Shang-Chi certainly made it seem like he had a big role to come in the larger shared universe, with him communicating with Wong, Captain Marvel, and Bruce Banner after the Ten Rings were revealed to be sending a beacon to something. Fans thought this was setting up Kang as the next big bad of the shared universe, although Jonathan Majors' firing resulted in that villain being abandoned in favor of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
Despite how long Liu has been missing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that doesn't take away what his first solo movie was able to do. Shang-Chi performed well at the box office, got good reviews, and director Daniel Destin Cretton was even recruited to direct Spider-Man: Brand New Day. We'll just have to see how long it takes for Shang-Chi 2 to finally begin active development; perhaps his role in the next Avengers movie will help inspire the studio to invest more in his future.
Avengers: Doomsday will hit theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll have to see how much more footage fans are treated to; the first trailer will likely only increase fans calling for more content.
