In September 2021, Marvel Studios helped bring movie theaters back into the spotlight with the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the second movie in the MCU's Phase 4. This origin story shocked the world as it became the highest-grossing movie ever over Labor Day Weekend - a particularly impressive feat that led to plans being set for Shang-Chi 2.
Simu Liu's titular hero is set for an extended future in the MCU after his first solo movie, having recently teased that he'll play a big part in where the MCU goes during Phase 5 and Phase 6. And while the chances are high that he'll see himself fighting alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, he'll have another solo journey to tackle in the near future as well.
Shang-Chi 2 still has plenty of question marks surrounding its production and release, with the movie being confirmed for development in December 2021. And while the film hasn't officially gotten a release date from the higher-ups at Marvel Studios, a rumor hinted that it may still be some time away from debuting.
Rumor Teases Shang-Chi 2's Release Date
A rumor from the r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers Reddit page noted that Marvel Studios is eyeing a February 14, 2025 release date for the sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
This would fill in the release date set aside for an 'Untitled Marvel' movie on Disney's current theatrical schedule.
This would also be the studio's first film of that year, coming in between November 2024's Fantastic Four and May 2025's Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
Murphy's Multiverse's Charles Murphy also commented on the potential release date, saying that he "concur[s]" with the source who originally shared the information:
"If you haven't noticed, this is something I've talked about for quite a while now and I would concur with this source."
Given the short window between the Shang-Chi sequel and the next Avengers film, the question of whether Cretton would still be able to direct both, to which Murphy also responded:
"He's absolutely directing [Shang-Chi 2]. I don't know why people keep thinking that producing Wonder Man would take precedence over Shang-Chi 2. Producing doesn't mean he's necessarily doing much of anything."
Will Shang-Chi 2's Rumored Release Date Stick?
To put this rumor into perspective, fans are well aware of how often Marvel Studios changes its release dates, even without the global pandemic from the past two years in play. Only within the past couple of days, Marvel changed one of its future opening dates from February 16, 2024, to September 6, 2024, with many believing that this is to set up Deadpool 3 for its long-awaited debut.
Particularly with this release date being about two and a half years out, the chances are pretty even for Shang-Chi 2 taking that date or not, particularly with how well the original Shang-Chi did in its September 2021 release. The only other February release in MCU history has been 2018's Black Panther, which grossed well over $1.3 billion, and Shang-Chi 2 could surely reach those same numbers with the box office trends approaching normality.
Previous reports indicated that Marvel was planning to film Shang-Chi 2 at some point in 2023, which would certainly leave enough time for the movie to be released more than a year after filming hypothetically finishes. However, there's one big question mark in this potential theory - Destin Daniel Cretton.
Although the director exceeded all expectations in his MCU debut, he's now tapped to take on even bigger duties by directing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, which releases less than three months after this potential date. It seems most likely that this responsibility would mean that someone else takes over Shang-Chi 2, and if the movies come out that close to one another, there's almost no way Cretton could direct back-to-back MCU theatrical debuts.
Only time will tell when this release date is settled in, but fans are thrilled to see more of the martial arts master in the near future.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now available to stream on Disney+.
