Is Marvel Abandoning Its Most Underrated Hero?
Will no one think of Shang-Chi?
With Marvel working to find its way out of a creative rut, it makes total sense to see the studio circling back to proven talent. The Russo brothers, for example, are officially returning to helm Avengers: Doomsday and its follow-up, Secret Wars — and another Marvel alum will soon follow in their footsteps.
Destin Daniel Cretton has been attached to a handful of Marvel projects since directing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; before the Russos, he was set to direct the Avengers’ next outing, then titled Kang Dynasty. Though he’s since parted ways with that particular project, he’s still very much a part of Marvel’s stable. Per The Hollywood Reporter, he’s now in talks to inherit one of Marvel’s most lucrative sagas, the Spider-Man franchise.
If he ends up helming Spider-Man 4, Cretton will take over for Jon Watts, who directed all three Spider-Man films in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. He could even go on to shepherd a new trilogy for Tom Holland’s webslinger. That’s undoubtedly good news for Spidey, whose future in the MCU has been on shaky ground since Spider-Man: No Way Home. However great this update feels, though, it feels like it comes at the expense of another promising superhero.
With another Marvel project on Cretton’s plate, the future of Shang-Chi 2 just got a lot murkier.
Cretton has quickly become one of the industry’s most in-demand directors: even without Spider-Man 4, he’s also got Marvel’s Wonder Man series and a live-action Naruto adaptation on his plate. But there’s also the little matter of Shang-Chi 2. Though it hasn’t officially been announced, a follow-up to Cretton’s first Marvel project has always felt like a no-brainer. Star Simu Liu has assured that the film is “definitely happening,” and the character himself seemed poised to become a new pillar of the Avengers.
Unfortunately, it’s been years since Marvel itself has said much at all about Shang-Chi. The same goes for Cretton, though he reportedly dropped out of Avengers 5 to focus on the other Marvel projects on his plate. Wonder Man is currently in post-production, which does free up Cretton’s responsibilities somewhat. Now that the director potentially taking on yet another MCU project, though, things still aren’t looking great for Shang-Chi.
Shang-Chi 2 could still happen without Cretton; he wouldn’t be the first director to hand the reins of a trilogy to another filmmaker. Still, it’s hard to imagine him abandoning the character he helped bring into the MCU. Instead it feels more like a blunder on Marvel’s part: maybe the studio isn’t interested in exploring another Shang-Chi film just yet. That’s not entirely damning, as Liu could still play a big role in the upcoming Avengers films. But it’d be nice to see the character — and his role in the universe — established beyond his origin story, especially before something as big as Secret Wars.
Shang-Chi positioned its hero as a future Avenger, but subsequent films haven’t explored his potential at all.
Marvel is working hard to restore the magic of the early MCU, and keeping its best filmmakers close isn’t a bad strategy. Still, it couldn’t hurt to put a bit more energy into its characters, especially the ones introduced during Phases 4 and 5. If heroes like Shang-Chi are meant to become the new Avengers, then we need to start seeing a lot more of them. We need reasons to care about them, just as we did with the original Avengers line-up — otherwise, Doomsday and Secret Wars will lack the emotional resonance of its predecessors, Infinity War, Endgame, and even Avengers: Age of Ultron. It’s not too late to reverse course, but the longer Marvel ignores its most promising heroes, the harder it’s going to be.
