Shang-Chi Trailer Confirms Major Doctor Strange Character Cameo

A Doctor Strange magic-user conjures up a surprise appearance in the latest trailer for Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The action-packed trailer reveals a super-powered combat tournament where master martial artist Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), the son of crime lord Wenwu (Tony Leung) and the estranged brother of fellow fighter Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), is rumored to do battle for possession of the titular ten rings. It’s there that Wong (Benedict Wong), a Master of the Mystic Arts and an ally to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), uses his Sling Ring in battle against the Abomination years after the monster’s Harlem hulk-out in The Incredible Hulk.

Internet sleuths speculated Wong would appear in Shang-Chi when the actor was photographed with Liu during production in Australia. Wong made his debut as ancient bookkeeper Wong in 2016’s Doctor Strange, again assisting the sorcerer in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Wong and Cumberbatch reunite in the Sam Raimi-directed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when it opens in theaters on March 25, 2022.

Wong and the Abomination aren’t the only Marvel Cinematic Universe characters to cameo in Shang-Chi: the film’s first trailer revealed a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance of a familiar face from Spider-Man: Homecoming.

“Authenticity and respect and staying true to this genre was the main objective from day one,” first-time MCU director Destin Daniel Cretton recently told Empire about the many deadly hands of kung fu in Shang-Chi. “There’s choreography that’s reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and other fight scenes are inspired by Jackie Chan. We also had choreographers from mainland China who created some beautiful wuxia-style fight scenes.”

Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.

Starring Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings releases in theaters on September 3.