According to a new report, Shang-Chi 2 will start shooting in one and a half years. But the director doesn’t want to make (only) such films.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue (no doubt long after we’re all dust), but now a report detailing future Marvel projects has revealed that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have successfully created their franchise with the production crew set to start filming in 2023. The GWW reports that Shang-Chi 2 is still a little further away, with a 2023 production date hinting at a 2024 release, but buoyed by the critical and financial success of the first instalment of the new MCU hero, audiences could be in for more from the kung fu master.

The Legend of Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, released in September, tells the story of Shang-Chi, a skilled martial artist who was trained as an assassin by his father Wenwu at a young age. After he leaves the Ten Rings and decides to live a normal life in San Francisco, Shang-Chi is soon drawn back into the secret world of the Ten Rings and is forced to confront the past he thought he had left behind.

Starring Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh and Tony Leung, alongside Simu Liu in the title role, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings successfully introduced the previously unexplored world of martial arts and magic to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as introducing the Asian-led version of the film. As is typical of Marvel films these days, Shang-Chi concludes with a series of post-credits scenes, the events of which will undoubtedly lead to a sequel.

Simu Liu and Awkwafina are expected to return in Shang-Chi, and The Legend of the Ten Rings 2, and director Destin Daniel Cretton has previously stated that he would like to return for the sequel, despite his initial concerns about joining such a massive franchise. “Yes, yes, I would love to,” the director said when asked if he would be interested in helming a Shang-Chi sequel. “When I said that to my agent, it was real. I basically just said to my agent, ‘I don’t want to do this type of film’. I know that I’m at a stage in my career where agents can easily try to push me in that direction, but I didn’t feel like I wanted to do that. Part of it was definitely fear. Fear of losing creative control.”

For now, the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has more than enough to do. Audiences can still look forward to 2021’s The Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home, while next year will see several sequels hit the big screen, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And as for 2023, when production is said to begin on Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings Part 2, Marvel is releasing even more sequels in theatres with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania before introducing the superhero family, the Fantastic Four.

Source: MovieWeb