Simu Liu Breaks Down The Copenhagen Test’s Explosive Ending, Series 2 Chances & His MCU Return [Exclusive]

After anchoring Marvel’s Shang-Ci and the Legend of the Ten Rings, actor Simu Liu further cemented his leading-man status in Peacock’s The Copenhagen Test. Created by Thomas Brandon, the sci-fi spy thriller follows Alexander [Liu, who also serves as executive producer], an analyst for a top-secret government agency called the Orphanage. When the organization begins to suspect a mole is leaking classified information, Alexander comes to realize his brain has been hacked, allowing an unknown enemy access to everything he sees and hears. To feed the mystery perpetrator controlled info, Alexander participates in perilous missions. But in the cutthroat world of spies, the line between friend and foe becomes blurry. In the jaw-dropping finale, it’s revealed that Alexander’s trusted mentor, Victor, is responsible for the hack. So, what now?

Liu exclusively spoke to ComicBook about mastering spy skills, that gobsmacking twist, Alexander’s recourse, Shang-Chi’s anticipated return in Avengers: Doomsday and further collaborations with James Wan. Warning: the following contains serious SPOILERS for The Copenhagen Test.

ComicBook: Most people would cite James Bond or Ethan Hunt as the epitome of the perfect spy. Were there any underrated spy characters that captured your imagination growing up?

Simu Liu: I loved Bond. I definitely loved Mission. I think what we were going for on our show was somewhere in between, with the one exception being this technological conceit of the nano technology and the hack. But we wanted it to be somewhere between Green Grass’ The Bourne Identity and John le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. When you look at the type of mid-century architecture and the aesthetic of the Orphanage, it’s really apparent that there are John le Carré influences. I know Thomas Brandon was a big John le Carré fan and read all those novels growing up. From what I have read and seen, I have also loved them. That was a big one for us that we kept going back to, whether it was a visual or tonal reference. 

The finale packed in gunslinging, knife work, hand-to-hand combat and, yes, even sprinting. What aspect of the choreography did you gain a greater appreciation of? Was there anything in there that you had never done before?

I would probably say the biggest new thing for me was the gun work. Obviously, being a part of the Marvel movies, they are PG-13 and is very hand-to-hand. I felt very comfortable with everything in that world. But the gun stuff is new. I worked with a shooting coach before we started and interviewed people in the military or ex-Special Forces. We had a consultant on set, who was ex-Canadian Special Forces.

It was really useful resources and basically wanting to make sure that we were portraying this guy for what he was, that we could convincingly play this ex-Green Beret who would have gone through serious training and knows his way around a gun, frontwards and backwards, with his eyes closed. That part of it was a challenge. It was really fun getting into the different grips and the tactile element of, “How do you clear a corner? How do you take cover? How do you shoot to kill? How do you shoot to intimidate?” There are scenes on the Paris rooftop where Alexander is clearly trying not to hurt anybody, so how does he shoot in that way? All of that stuff was new and fun to delve into.

The series has been described as a twisty espionage thriller. One of the major gut punches came from Victor betraying Alexander. How caught off guard were you by that curveball? Was that something that was pitched to you from day one?

I remember being in the writer’s room the first couple of weeks. Things had not yet congealed. There were a lot of ideas being thrown around. I remember we were hearing a lot of, “What if Rachel was working against him the whole time? What if Victor had hacked him in the beginning?” I thought all of these were intriguing elements. Then, I kind of left them. The next time I heard from it was the script. I remember reading through the episode and thinking, “Wow. He’s going to need a ton of therapy after this because all the people close to him have basically betrayed him by the end of the first season.” It’s a lot. 

It’s an interesting place for the character to leave off some exciting opportunities and exciting places to explore, if we are lucky enough to get a second season. Seeing Alexander more on the offensive closer to the finale, in our big set piece, was very cool and great to see him empowered. Of course, then to have the gut punch… I would love to follow his next steps to see where he goes next. Does Alexander work with Victor?  Does he try to take Victor down? What’s the plan? Truly, I don’t know, but I know there’s a lot of story left to tell.

When we leave Alexander in those final moments, he once again finds himself between a rock and a hard place, conflicted between loyalty and conscience… what’s right and what’s wrong. Do you feel he’s better equipped at answering some of those bigger questions after everything he has endured?

Yeah, I really think so. Alexander’s journey throughout the entire first season is to listen to his own moral compass rather than be the guy who follows orders or being the guy who does what someone else thinks is right. Him wanting to put that trust in himself is what leads him to throw that Hail Mary in episode 7 and to go on the run, hoping that the people at the Orphanage would pick up what he is actually doing. I think it really speaks to Alexander’s comfort and taking matters into his own hands, and him starting to listen to his own moral compass rather than this overwhelming desire to be validated by his superiors, to feel like he belongs. I feel like by the end of the season, he is at a place where is no longer seeking those things. He knows who he is. That’s a really exciting and dangerous place for a character to live off, especially as we get to peeling back the layers of who actually is behind this hack. Once those people reveal themselves, it will be interesting to see where Alexander falls with that.

Alexander parallels your Marvel character Shang-Chi in that both are thrust into a world they are unprepared for. When Avengers: Doomsday and your involvement were announced, how curious were you with how Shang-Chi’s otherworldly rings would factor into the grand narrative? The first Shang-Chi film barely tapped into their potential.

You are touching on a lot of the things that I think about a lot, for sure. What I will say coming out of an experience where I was an executive producer, and so active in all of the elements of the filmmaking, it was really cool to be able to surrender to the process, knowing I was going to be part of this huge regime. As much ownership that I felt over the character, knowing that character was just a small part of this huge tapestry, it was really refreshing, especially coming off of a show like Copenhagen Test. Again, so happy and so privileged to have been a more active leader there. But it is great to be able to take a break and go on vacation from that. Even though Doomsday is still very much work and I worked very hard on it, it felt like vacation in a lot of ways because, “Oh, I don’t have to worry about this is going to cut anymore. I don’t have to give notes on something later.” I get to come and surrender and have fun.

Shang-Chi reportedly gets a new costume in Doomsday. In what ways has he changed since we last saw him?

Oh man. I don’t know. I never know when something I say is going to get picked up into a soundbite. I think I was freezing cold on the rooftop of the Empire State Building and they were like, “What about his costume?” And I was like, “Oh, it’s new.” It just became an unstoppable maelstrom of messed-up lines. I am very reserved about what to say about it now. 

I think time. He’s older. I think I’m older, so getting to bring a little bit more of a quality of self-assurance is always great, especially because Shang-Chi was such a fish out of water. There’s a little bit of a jump in time, so I think we’ll meet him at a place where he’s feeling a little more lived in with who he is and his responsibilities.

And coming full circle, James Wan is an executive producer on The Copenhagen Test. He’s a master of horror. We would love to see you collaborating with him in that genre. Is that something that interests you?

Oh man, it’s all I talk to him about. “James, when are we going to do something?” Yeah, I am a massive James Wan fan. I am a fan of his work. I am a fan of his story. His story around Saw… I resonate with that a lot as someone himself who feels like a perennial outsider. James, having come from Australia and having made this tiny, low-budget movie with zero expectations and all of a sudden, set the world on fire. It’s the best way to do it and I always have a soft spot for people who are entirely self-made with no connections to the industry. They just all of a sudden create something undeniable. James is very much of that. His talent and his intelligence is so apparent in the way that he speaks. I would work with him again in a heartbeat.

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