One of the most powerful team-ups in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has just been teased thanks to Simu Liu’s new reveal about Shang-Chi in Avengers: Doomsday. Liu made his first, and currently only, live-action appearance in the MCU in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in 2021. While he’s shown up in Marvel Studios’ animated projects, including What If…? and Marvel Zombies, Shang-Chi will be stealing the show again in live-action in the Russo brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday in 2026, and he’ll be sharing the screen with some incredible Marvel characters.
Simu Liu might have put himself in hot water at Marvel Studios by mentioning both Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen at a panel during this year’s New York Comic-Con. He described them as “people who I grew up watching and idolizing,” before going on to suggest that he “maybe [got] the opportunity to do scenes with them” in Avengers: Doomsday (via @AvengersUpdated). Despite trying to backtrack, Liu’s statement that sharing the stage with Stewart and McKellen “was incredible, it was an experience that [he] can’t even describe,” points to one of the MCU’s most powerful partnerships.
Shang-Chi Teaming Up With the X-Men Is Incredibly Exciting
Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were essential cogs in the machine that was 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise. Stewart portrayed Charles Xavier’s telepathic Professor X, while McKellen took on the role of his archenemy, Erik Lehnsherr’s Master of Magnetism, Magneto. They brought prestige, gravitas, and theatricality to the franchise, and will do the same when they reprise their roles in Avengers: Doomsday alongside other X-Men characters, Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, James Marsden’s Cyclops, Channing Tatum’s Gambit, and Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler.
Simu Liu’s new comments at NYCC seem to suggest that Shang-Chi will be sharing the screen with the X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday. While recent speculation has hinted at Doomsday including an adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Avengers vs. X-Men event from 2012, which could pit Shang-Chi – perhaps a member of Sam Wilson’s Avengers team – and the X-Men against each other. However, it’s more likely Shang-Chi will join forces with the X-Men to take on an even bigger threat. That being Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom.
Shang-Chi is one of the MCU’s most powerful characters, thanks to his immense fighting skill and use of the mystical ten rings – formidable bangles with mysterious origins. Similarly, the X-Men, especially Professor X and Magneto, harbor some of the most impressive and unmatched superpowers in Marvel’s history, so bringing these characters together would be seriously cinematic and thrilling. Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to hit theaters on December 18, 2026, and the sequel could change the shape of the MCU forever.
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