Shang-Chi Artist Reveals Disappointing Truth Behind Deadpool’s Reported Cameo

Fret not, Shang-Chi fans—Deadpool was never actually going to be a part of the movie. Monday, concept art from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings surfaced showing Deadpool fighting Proxima Midnight in the fight club in Macau. Now, Marvel Studios concept artist Andrew Kim has clarified the sequence, confirming he simply put two random Marvel characters in the moment and neither character was ever set to actually appear in the flick.

“Well, long story short, sorry to disappoint you but there was no involvement of Deadpool or Proxima in the early going,” Kim said in a chat with Chatterbox Film (via The Direct). “When I was designing the fight club, my [production designer] mentioned to me that we could see other Marvel characters fighting in the ring when we first revealed the scene. Deadpool and Proxima was my idea to put in as I thought their dynamic fighting styles could be a perfect fit in the ring like that. And Deadpool’s red was a nice pop against the bluish background.”

That doesn’t mean the Merc With a Mouth isn’t showing up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ryan Reynolds is still busy orchestrating the script with the Molyneux Sisters. Just last month he confirmed he and Shawn Levy have had discussions about the threequel, leading some to believe the helmer could be in the running to direct the flick.

“We pretty much talk about everything, but I’ll say this about that particular subject is I’ll have a batch of updates on that sooner rather than later, I hope,” Reynolds told Collider at the time. So I’ll be able to get into stuff about Deadpool a little bit more clearly and definitively down the road.” 

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now available on Disney+, all major digital platforms, and wherever physical movies are sold. Shang-Chi 2 doesn’t have a release window yet.

What’d you think of Shang-Chi’s film debut? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!