Simu Liu is out to save the world again in Peacock’s new spy-fi drama, The Copenhagen Test. The Shang-Chi actor portrays Alexander Hale, an intelligence analyst for a top-secret government agency. But as he takes on a higher-level position, Alexander discovers nanite technology has been introduced into his system. This allows an unknown enemy to access everything he hears or sees, thus making them privy to classified intel or operations.
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Now partaking in dangerous field missions, Alexander must play it cool to expose the hacker and their hidden agenda. Everyone’s a suspect, including colleagues, his ex-girlfriend, and the sympathetic bartender Michelle [Scream’s Melissa Barrera], who appears to be interested in more than just pouring drinks.
Right from the beginning flashback sequence, Alexander’s moral compass puts him on a direct collision course with people’s expectations of him. Follow orders and save an adult American citizen or abandon a helpless child. The dilemma seems clear, but the outcome… not so much.
“These issues of right and wrong and loyalty, and the difference between blind loyalty and patriotism and those things being conflated with morality, these are all things that are so incredibly topical and relevant in our world today,” Liu tells ComicBook during a Zoom interview. “I’m not sure what time we are living in right now, but it kind of feels like that eternal question of, ‘What makes a patriot? Is it the blind loyalty or the courage to question and the courage to stand up?’
“Alexander navigating his way through all this, with the context and the background of everything that he carries with him… his culture, his parents, his family… it’s the intersection of a lot of interesting things,” he adds. “I just appreciated the gift from the writers and getting to play all of those things. It’s rare.”
Assigned to cozy up to Alexander and keep an eye on him is operative Melissa. A master manipulator, she’s not only skilled at adopting multiple aliases and thinking quickly on her feet, but she’s no slouch at hand-to-hand combat. A bookstore brawl showcases what a badass Michelle – and Barerra – truly are.
“I had prepped a lot for that day,” Barerra reflects. “I wanted to show off, and I wanted it to be good, and I wanted Michelle to look like she knows what she is doing. I had to leg up to be at Simu’s level because he is a pro. He’s done action. He is really good at hand-to-hand combat. He is so quick at picking up fight choreography. But I had never done this level of intricate fighting. I really wanted to demonstrate I could do it. I didn’t want them to say, ‘Oh, you know what, Melissa? Thanks for trying, but let’s use a body double so that you actually look good.’ I wanted it to be me.
“I love seeing when an actor is actually doing their own stunts,” she continues. “You can see the face because it’s so obvious when they are trying to hide their face. It’s the double, and it takes me out of it, personally, so I always try to do the most that I can. That was super-fun. That was our first joint action thing in the season. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was fun. We broke a bookcase that we didn’t have a replacement for. It was amazing. We are both very intense people. When we go, we go 200 percent, which can be dangerous sometimes. But we had an incredible stunt team. We had incredible partners that we were fighting. We rehearsed a lot. That was my first taste of it.
“After that day, I remember thinking, ‘I hope there is 17 more of these in the season. I just want more,’” she adds. “I even pitched an entire episode to showrunners Jennifer Yale and Thomas Brandon of just fighting. ‘What if we do a John Wick episode where it’s all an hour of action?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, Melissa. No.’ I was like, ‘Think about it. It would be cool.’”
Liu transitions from spy to superhero for 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday, where he’ll reprise the role of Shang-Chi. The character has been missing in action since his debut four years ago in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but will be answering the call-to-arms against Doctor Doom. Other heroes slated to appear include the Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, and a selection of X-Men and Avengers. Even before receiving the Doomsday script, Liu admits to eagerly anticipating crossing paths with certain costumed comrades and confirms he can check them off his bucket list.
“My two people I wanted to see my character interact with… I don’t want to say it out loud,” teases Liu. “Truly, childhood heroes of mine. I am sure you can guess who it is. They are the two that make me feel like a little boy.
“I’m just going to say it,” he concludes. “God dammit. The two that make me feel like a little boy are Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. They are legends.”
The Copenhagen Test debuts on Peacock on December 27.
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