Shang-Chi 2 Gets Very Encouraging Update from Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton

There is one big question MCU fans want an answer to and no, we don’t mean finding out when the Avengers: Doomsday trailer will finally release. We’re talking about the status of Shang-Chi 2. 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the best films in the Multiverse Saga and the film quickly snagged a sequel announcement with director Destin Daniel Cretton coming back to write and direct. But five years on, that sequel hasn’t materialized—though fans shouldn’t give up hope just yet. Cretton may be preparing for the debut of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but he had good news for Shang-Chi 2.

During an appearance on Deadline’s Crew Call podcast along with his Wonder Man series co-creator Andrew Guest, Cretton revealed that Shang-Chi 2 is very much still in development and explained that the delay was more COVID than anything else.

“We are developing a second one,” Cretton said. “You know, what’s going on is what went on with the entire industry since that, you know, that movie came out, like it was successful, but it actually came out weirdly. It was successful at the time when there was like a new wave of COVID was hitting. So, it was still successful, but it was also, I think many countries were completely shut down to theaters at the time. So, and you know, after that, there were just crazy changes all over the place. So, it was, it’s just a result of the industry.”

The Long Wait for Shang-Chi 2 Makes Sense (But We Still Want That Movie ASAP)

What Cretton has to say about the delay for Shang-Chi 2 does make sense. It’s hard to think about it now since so much of the world has gone back to normal or whatever the “new normal” is in terms of the entertainment industry, but 2021 was very much a transitional time. Movies were starting to come back to theaters in a much more meaningful way, but there were still restrictions in a lot of places when it came to the use of public spaces (such as theaters) and on the production side of thing still a lot of rules and regulations around COVID protections and protocols. As Cretton also notes, it was also a time where new strains and waves of the virus were emerging, often prompting a “better safe than sorry” sort of response.

However, while the reason we’ve had a delay in the much-wanted sequel makes sense, fans have still been waiting for pretty much any crumb of a return of Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi. The character has not had any major appearances in other films in the MCU, something that has only made fans want to see his return in a proper sequel even more. The character (and Liu) is set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which is exciting, but it also is really only making fans want the Shang-Chi sequel more. Given the amount of time that has passed since the first film, as well as the various shifts and developments in the MCU as a whole, it will be interesting to see how a sequel would even play out. That, too, could be contributing to the delay. As Cretton said the film is in development, which to a certain extent implies that the story is being planned and worked out. Given the interconnected nature of the MCU, all of the changes to the larger universe will have certainly had an impact on whatever is next for the fan-favorite hero.

For now, we just have to sit tight and wait for Shang-Chi’s return in Avengers: Doomsday. But we really do want that Shang-Chi sequel as soon as possible.

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