RUMOR: AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY Would Have "Effectively Served" As SHANG-CHI 2

A new rumor doing the rounds online is claiming that Marvel Studios' original plan for the next Avengers movie prior to Jonathan Majors' firing would have "effectively served" as a Shang-Chi sequel...

By MarkCassidy - Sep 14, 2024 08:09 AM EST

Filed Under: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

Simu Liu's Shang-Chi will likely appear in at least one of the upcoming Avengers movies, but a recent rumor claimed that the Master of Kung-Fu was originally going to play a major role in The Kang Dynasty prior to the project being revamped.

According to Inverse, "in the original plan for Avengers 5, then called Kang Dynasty, Shang-Chi would've been one of the film's main leads."

With Destin Daniel Cretton at the helm, it wouldn't have been a major surprise if Shang-Chi was a significant part of the plot, and Jeff Sneider has heard that The Kang Dynasty would have "essentially served" as a Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings sequel before Marvel was forced to pivot after Jonathan Majors' firing.

What exactly this would have entailed is not clear, but we assume at least some of the bigger story points from Legend of the Ten Rings would have carried over, leading to Shang-Chi and other heroes (obviously) facing-off against Kang the Conqueror and his Variants.

Cretton recently boarded Spider-Man 4, leaving the status of the actual Shang-Chi 2 (which is still in development... for now) uncertain. Sneider's co-host, John Rocha, has also heard that MJ will not have a huge role in the No Way Home follow-up due to Zendaya's busy schedule.

We got word during this year's San Diego Comic-Con that the next Avengers movie is now titled Avengers: Doomsday, with Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr. set to make his MCU return as Victor Von Doom.

Shang-Chi could still factor into the film, of course, but it sounds like his role may have been significantly reduced.

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both films will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.

What do you make of these latest rumors? Let us know in the comments section down below.

Simu Liu's SHANG-CHI Was Reportedly Going To Be A Major Focus Of AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY

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40 Comments

OptimusCrime - 9/14/2024, 8:28 AM

Cool,

harryba11zack - 9/14/2024, 8:29 AM

the only thing i liked about the first one was the mandarin ans some of the fights, if Awkwafina returns then I'll have to give this one a miss or just watch the best parts on Youtube.

IAmAHoot - 9/14/2024, 8:40 AM

@harryba11zack - I too found her humor rather forced.

Jackraow21 - 9/14/2024, 8:43 AM

@harryba11zack - Agreed. Wasn’t a big fan of the first one so the sequel being pushed back is fine with me.

MadThanos - 9/14/2024, 8:55 AM

@harryba11zack - despite Awkwafina, I enjoyed very much the serious tone of the 1st and 2nd acts. The 3rd one was pure CGI fantasy and sucked really hard.

IAmAHoot - 9/14/2024, 8:40 AM

Nah. Just a rumor. There would have been Shang-Chi 2, and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

ObserverIO - 9/14/2024, 11:52 AM

@IAmAHoot - maybe the rumor should say that Kang Dynasty effectively served as a Shang Chi 3.

MadThanos - 9/14/2024, 8:54 AM

Shang-Chi And The Rings Of Power.

Just kidding but, it would just alienate the audience basing an entire Avengers movie on two characters that had a huge rejection from the audience.

thewanderer - 9/14/2024, 9:04 AM

@MadThanos - Shan Chi was rejected how?

One of the higher rated MCU movies (by both fans and critics) and any box office “let down” is at least partially Covid related.

MadThanos - 9/14/2024, 9:40 AM

@thewanderer - yeah, like Black Widow, right?

twistedcastles - 9/14/2024, 10:01 AM

@MadThanos - Shang Chi was definitely not rejected its box office was affected by covid

But the reviews and reception was good,in a better time it would have made between 600 and 800 million easily

MadThanos - 9/14/2024, 10:17 AM

@twistedcastles - I don't think so.

Shang-Chi was released in September and No Way Home in December.

That pretty much shows how weak you're argument is.

thewanderer - 9/14/2024, 11:13 AM

@MadThanos - Shang Chi is rated significantly higher than Black Widow.

TheCoonII - 9/14/2024, 11:29 AM

@twistedcastles - not even affected that much is was still one of the most successful movies I really don’t understand why half the internet acts like this movie was some gigantic flop

FinnishDude - 9/14/2024, 9:07 AM

Remember when the popular rumor (probably born from the brief scene taking place in the underground fight club) was that the first Shang-Chi movie was going to be about a martial arts tournament, with the contenstants made out of various Marvel tropes (super-soldiers, sorcerers, vampires etc.)? I'm still disappointed that wasn't true, since while that premise isn't new in fantasy martial arts stories in general, it would have been something different in the context of a superhero movie, while the actual movie was fairly typical "MacGuffin treasure hunt" type of story not only Marvel, but other superhero movies have done to death.

HeraldNumber7 - 9/14/2024, 10:15 AM

@FinnishDude -

i have been saying forever that the first one should have been styled after the OG Mortal Kombat. would have been way better as a smaller movie than the fantasy we ultimately got. too much nonsense.

TheVisionary25 - 9/14/2024, 10:19 AM

@FinnishDude - sure but then you get people being like it’s ripping off Mortal Kombat or whatever.

It doesn’t matter to people what context or genre something is taking place in for them to do that

while the plot itself was nothing special and was kinda another McGuffin Chase (which ends fairly early) , it also wasn’t since it was about reaching Ta-Lo which they do towards the end of the second act/beginning of third

TheNewYorker - 9/14/2024, 9:16 AM

Sureeee 😉 Poor guy wasn’t getting a sequel LOL

Forthas - 9/14/2024, 9:35 AM

This sounds ridiculous. The way to move forward with Shang Chi is to create a war between the Ten Rings and The Hand setting up Kirigi as a main antagonist with Shang Chi being in the middle. This would open up so many story lines that could tie in Daredevil and his supporting characters.

Feralwookiee - 9/14/2024, 10:01 AM

Another "woulda coulda shoulda" article. Meh.
I was hoping Shang Chi would've been a relatively stripped down movie that was almost totally an old fashioned 70's type martial arts movie, rather than the bloated spectacle we got.

Speaking of spectacles; This guy made an ass of himself years ago dressed as Captain America, but it looks like he's sobered up and turned it around. Hopefully, he stays on the right path.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-hobbs-captain-america-costume-arrest-sobriety-journey/

SheepishOne - 9/14/2024, 10:13 AM

He should still be a lead in Doomsday tbh

PatientXero - 9/14/2024, 10:19 AM

I’m glad things changed. The first one wasn’t very good, and they bastardized the concept of the ten rings. Such a huge miss on Marvel’s part. So bad. Worse than Marvels.

DocSpock - 9/14/2024, 11:12 AM

@PatientXero -

I didn't think it was that good either, but nothing was as bad as the Marvels.

ThorArms - 9/14/2024, 11:25 AM

@PatientXero - worse than the Marvels? Now I know you're just trolling

TheVisionary25 - 9/14/2024, 10:29 AM

The only thing I can think of this meaning is that he would have been a main player with possibly the signal the Ten Rings were emitting being traced back to Kang or his variants as weapons in their arsenal that were lost…

Thus with that plot thread resolved , the actual Shang Chi 2 could have focused on something new entirely.

Also in regard to Zendaya’s apparent reduced role in Spidey 4 , I am ok with that and hope we atleast get another movie or 2 before she remembers Peter just so we can keep the impact of that ending for a bit and explore other characters…

However idk where Rocha is getting that Zendaya has a busy schedule right now in that she has a movie she’s doing with Robert Pattinson and maybe the next season of Euphoria which hasn’t been fully confirmed yet.

NinnesMBC - 9/14/2024, 5:39 PM

@TheVisionary25 - I think Robert Pattinson currently is filming with Jennifer Lawrence and Lakeith Stanfield a film calledd "Die, My Love." He might be lined up to work with Zendaya next but not for now. And yes she isn't even that busy since Euphoria still isn't ready script-wise. All signs to Spider-Man 4 happening first.

BabyLasagna - 9/14/2024, 10:38 AM

People will hate anything Marvel does no matter what anyway, because is cool to hate Marvel now.

So they might as well do whatever they like, people will complain anyway

elcapitan - 9/14/2024, 4:01 PM

@BabyLasagna - and they will as long as they turn a profit

gulducati - 9/14/2024, 11:39 AM

Shang-chi was so long ago, I don't remember anyone from it, much less feel any emotional ties to them.

marvel72 - 9/14/2024, 12:07 PM

One of the better movies of phase 4 but I fell asleep after the scaffold fight and woke up for the final battle.

valmic - 9/14/2024, 12:17 PM

Damn we got all these new characters in the last few years and none of them have led to anything.

CreateNowSlpL8r - 9/14/2024, 12:21 PM

Keep telling you guys they never green lit a Shang Chi 2. They are trying to get to Avengers. Anything not in production is on the chopping block until they see if they can get back on track. They have to survive Agatha, Ironheart and hope Cap4 doesnt lose a ton of money. Then you have TB's which is a big chance given the lineup. I dont even think FF is a sure thing.

Lysander45 - 9/14/2024, 1:07 PM

Since Shang-Chi is going to be a member of the next Avengers team led by Captain Falcon (or Captain Marvel had her sequel not tanked), his sequel movie was always going to have the Avengers film coming before it. Whatever happened in Kang Dynasty would have provided the jump-off point for Shang-Chi 2 in a similar fashion to the Avengers providing the jump-off point for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

I just hope they don't give Simu Liu any say in the story of the sequel since he thinks having Awkwafina's character as a love interest is the next step despite their chemistry as friends in the first movie being anodyne and trope-y. Give him a story where he is fighting to stop his sister's hip-new Ten Rings of Spraypaint Murals from expanding their influence.

McMurdo - 9/14/2024, 1:19 PM

Sounds like we dodged a bullet.

ModHaterSLADE - 9/14/2024, 1:44 PM

Glad they didn't go this route, Shang-Chi was a damn fun watch but I prefer a more grounded project for the character like the stories of him working with MI-6 like the comics.

Corruptor - 9/14/2024, 1:49 PM

Yah, the Avengers isn't about kung fu, dumbasses. We''ll have Avengers movies the "serve" as Avengers movies.

Spike101 - 9/14/2024, 2:44 PM

I wouldn’t care if I never saw this character again in this current take. I’d rather have another Eternals movie!

NinnesMBC - 9/14/2024, 5:41 PM

Will always wish to see whatever the Kang Dynasty was gonna be than suddenly shifting to make a rushed Doom-focused film.

There was a big likelyhood the origin of the Ten Rings and whatever beacon it sent when Shang-Chi made them his that was gonna connect to the overall picture of the Multiverse Saga and with any of the Kang Council Variants.

TheVisionary25 - 9/14/2024, 6:06 PM

@NinnesMBC - same

I still would rather they just finish that story instead of pivoting but oh well

EgoEgor - 9/15/2024, 2:18 PM

Great movie about a dysfunctional relationship between a father and his kids... and then dragon demons show up and ruin it because every movie gotta have end of the world stakes.

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RUMOR: AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY Would Have "Effectively Served" As SHANG-CHI 2

A new rumor doing the rounds online is claiming that Marvel Studios' original plan for the next Avengers movie prior to Jonathan Majors' firing would have "effectively served" as a Shang-Chi sequel...

Simu Liu's SHANG-CHI Was Reportedly Going To Be A Major Focus Of AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY

AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY - Everything We Know About Marvel's SCRAPPED Plans For The Movie