SAN DIEGO – It has been five years since 2021’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings saw Simu Liu play the first Asian superhero to lead a Marvel movie.
Fans are still waiting for the sequel, which remains in development, with production yet to begin.
But they will get to see the martial arts whizz in Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Dec 17.
“It’s been a minute, but it’s damn good to be back”, says Liu as he joins his co-stars to promote the film at San Diego Comic-Con, a fan convention in California, on July 25.
A sequel to the superhero blockbuster Avengers: Endgame (2019), Doomsday features a sprawling ensemble cast that includes Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Rudd, Pedro Pascal, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Channing Tatum, David Harbour and Hayley Atwell, all reprising their roles from previous Marvel films.
The first of a two-parter, with Avengers: Secret Wars out in December 2027, the story follows heroes from three different universes as they come together to take on Doctor Doom (Downey Jr), a supervillain threatening to destroy everything.
Released earlier in July, the first trailer for Doomsday – set 14 months after the events of Thunderbolts* (2025), also known as The New Avengers – shows a scene where Shang-Chi faces off with mutant superhero Gambit (Tatum).
Liu, a 37-year-old Canadian born in Harbin, China, says that although audiences have not seen Shang-Chi in a while, he “has not been sitting idly by”.
“If I know my character, he’s been off somewhere training or defusing situations and saving the day.
“Because when you meet him at this point in (Doomsday), he’s a lot more confident and a more self-assured version of who he was when we last saw him,” says Liu, who will also appear in Avengers: Secret Wars.
The actor enjoyed battling it out with Tatum, the 46-year-old American actor of Magic Mike (2012 to 2023) fame.
Tatum’s energy on set matched his own, and both did much of their own fights and stunts.
“He’s a lot like me – when he sees something on a page, like a fight scene, he’s like, ‘Oh, I want to be the one to do it’.
“And knowing you have a dance partner who is as willing to be down and dirty is just the best,” says Liu, who also starred in the 2025 science-fiction series The Copenhagen Test.
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) appears in the trailer for Avengers: Doomsday.
PHOTO: MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT/YOUTUBE
Avengers: Doomsday, he says, will be both serious and fun.
“It just feels epic. It’s the culmination of so many different movies and there are these incredible stakes. So there’s definitely a gravity and a seriousness to it.
“But at the same time, there’s this joy in meeting characters you never thought you’d see again – for example, Sir Ian McKellen reprising the role of Magneto and Sir Patrick Stewart playing Professor Xavier (from the X-Men film franchise).
“Some of these characters have been around since I was 10. And getting now to interact with them, it’s just unbelievably joyful,” says Liu, who is engaged to 29-year-old Allison Hsu, a Taiwanese-American marketing executive.
“And I feel like the joy we felt, the audience will feel.”
(From left) Winston Duke, Letitia Wright, Simu Liu, Anthony Russo, Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden and Tenoch Huerta onstage at Comic-Con International on July 25, in San Diego, California.
PHOTO: AFP
As for the long-awaited Shang-Chi sequel, Liu is as impatient as the fans for filming to get under way – something he has clearly been asked about often.
“I sound like a broken record at this point, but it is happening,” he told People magazine earlier in 2026.
At Comic-Con, he shakes his head ruefully when the topic comes up yet again.
“I’m going to take the high road here and say that it’s really incredible how much the fans continue to show up for this character and express their enthusiasm.
“I hope they continue to do so because I think it is making a difference,” he adds.
“Even five years out, people still come up to me and tell me how much they appreciated the movie,” he says of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, which earned more than US$430 million (S$554 million) at the global box office.
“And I can’t wait to do more. Unfortunately, there are things that are outside of my control, but I’m ready and waiting.”
Avengers: Doomsday opens in Singapore cinemas on Dec 17.