Spider-Man: No Way Home Establishes Wong as the MCU's New Nick Fury

The connective tissue in Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Nick Fury, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson. He helped bring the Avengers together, appearing in various films in supporting and cameo roles. As the MCU evolved, it became less necessary for Nick Fury to get involved, especially after S.H.I.E.L.D. was dissolved. However, the Doctor Strange supporting character Wong has stepped up to fill that void for the next generation of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, especially in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Wong (Benedict Wong) was one of the characters to survive the Blip that wiped out half of all life in the universe. He was among the heroes to assemble and defeat Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, reappearing next in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Fans first go to see Wong in the closing moments of the film's first trailer, where he fought the Hulk villain Abomination in a fight club arena. Shang-Chi expanded on that scene by showing Wong and Abomination leave together through a mystical portal, with the two seemingly on good terms, even though they just fought each other for sport. Wong later recruited Shang-Chi and his friend Katy in order to study the Ten Rings, with a post-credits scene also bringing in Bruce Banner and Captain Marvel. He passed on some encouraging words to Marvel's newest superhero, almost serving as a future mentor for Simu Liu's character. Aside from the first Doctor Strange movie, this is the most camera time Wong has gotten in an MCU film.

This brings us to Spider-Man: No Way Home, as Wong only has a small part to play, though we do learn some fascinating new details about his MCU responsibilities. During the five years that Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange was gone dusted due to the Blip, Wong took over the role of Sorcerer Supreme in the MCU. Being the Sorcerer Supreme comes with a lot of duties, which keeps Wong rather busy. This explains why he quickly teleports to another location after warning Doctor Strange not to cast his spell to make the world forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

"I think we all just got excited about the idea of Wong. People love Wong. We love Wong," producer Jonathan Schwartz previously told ComicBook.com about Wong's appearance in Shang-Chi. "Benny Wong's the greatest, and we're very happy with it. So we ran with the Wong of it all. We love it."

The ensemble film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will feature even more Wong, as the new Sorcerer Supreme and Stephen Strange deal with the multiversal ramifications from Spider-Man: No Way Home. With Shang-Chi 2 already in the works with the returning Destin Daniel Cretton helming the project, we should expect Wong to show up there as well. There's also news that Cretton will be working on a Disney+ series for Marvel. Nothing would help cement Wong's status as the new Nick Fury than taking the lead in a streaming series, helping to expand the mystical side of the MCU.

Do you think Wong has what it takes to replace Nick Fury? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!