SHANG-CHI May Return Sooner Than You Think Teases Simu Liu

While it remains to be confirmed, it certainly appears to be a safe bet that Kang the Conqueror is the original owner of the mystical ten rings in Shang-Chi, which gave Tony Leung's Mandarin a host of powers (including immortality). That's led many MCU fans to surmise that we'll see Kang come for the rings in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which releases on May 2, 2025

Speaking to People at the Academy of Motion Arts & Sciences Sci-Tech Awards last Friday, Shang-Chi's titular star Simu Liu, teased that MCU fans might see Shang-Chi turn up sooner than they expect.  

"I'm such a big fan of both the characters and the performers that play them, so any collaboration is an opportunity for me to work alongside someone who, in their own way, is breaking barriers and at the very top of their game," said Liu on being a key figure in the MCU. "I think that's what excites me the most as a performer, [and] also as a fan."

"And who knows, they might see something sooner than you think," he teased when asked about teaming up with other MCU heroes. "We'll see."

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings grossed $432.2M worldwide from an estimated production budget of $150-$200M. Solid numbers, considering that the film was released on the tail-end of the COVID-19 pandemic and only had a 45-day window in theaters before it was released on Disney+.  The film was never released in China due to past comments made by Liu about his parents' upbringing there.

A  sequel was announced to be in development back in December 2021 but never received a release date and is currently not listed as part of the MCU's Phase 5 or 6 slate.

There's currently an Untitled Marvel movie slated for release on November 7, 2025- between the release of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars so perhaps that's when the sequel will be released. However, that certainly doesn't align with Liu's tease that Shang-Chi would appear again sooner than fans think.