Shang-Chi: Will We Get a Trailer During Super Bowl LV?

With February already on its way next week, Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings will soon be [...]

With February already on its way next week, Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings will soon be just five months from release. Even though the box office remains in a constant state of flux, Shang-Chi is still very much a tentpole feature and will have a marketing budget of tens of millions. Sooner or later, the film will have to release its first teaser trailer and if the stars align just right, that could come as soon as next weekend.

You see, Super Bowl LV takes place on Sunday, February 7th, and Marvel's had a history of advertising movies at the Big Game. Case in point, last year's Super Bowl included teasers for Marvel Studios' upcoming slate of Disney+ shows, including quick first looks at WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and even a shot at Loki. Though delays pushed those shows back by months, the timing was still accurate according to previous releases from the studio.

Each year, the Super Bowl serves as the one destination for all major brands and Disney rarely misses out on a chance to advertising something. With the Simu Liu-led movie next up after Black Widow, it's a prime candidate for a major Super Bowl ad. On that front, it'd also make sense for Marvel Studios to do a second combined ad with new footage from both The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki, as both shows premiere this spring.

Look at the last MCU film released. Spider-Man: Far From Home hit theaters way back on July 5, 2019, and its trailer was unveiled to the masses on January 20, 2019. On a similar timeframe, Avengers: Endgame hit theaters on the last week of April and the first teaser for that blockbuster was release the first week of December.

Looking at it from the standpoint of the studio, it could be a risky ad spend should it be forced to bump the movie back even further. After all, most studios have started vacating their spring dates as coronavirus-related shutdowns continue in select markets around the country.

That said, AMC boss Adam Aron said Monday he feels confident theaters will have a regular summer box office season, part of which will be anchored by — you guessed it — Shang Chi.

"Looking ahead, for AMC to succeed over the medium term, we are going to need for much of the general public in the U.S. and abroad to be vaccinated," Aron said in the statement. "To that end, we are grateful to the world's medical communities for their heroic efforts to thwart the COVID virus. Similarly, we welcome the commitment by the new Biden administration and of other governments domestically and internationally to a broad-based vaccination program."

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently set for release on July 9th.

What other characters do you think will end up popping up in Shang-Chi? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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