As Disney reshuffles the release dates for its upcoming movies, Marvel's Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings moves to the coveted May 2021 release date. Today's announcement comes as Disney has had to delay the releases of several upcoming films in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Due to the infectious nature of COVID-19, most countries are taking measures to slow the spread of the disease by closing businesses deemed non-essential. Movie theaters fall into this camp, and as such, most of 2020's upcoming movies have had to reevaluate their planned releases. Highly anticipated releases like Fast and Furious 9, No Time to Die, and A Quiet Place II are now all coming out later than expected. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this reshuffling of release dates is especially tricky given the sheer number of movies they have in the works, but with today's announcement, we now have some idea of how the MCU's Phase 4 will release in the post-coronavirus world.
Among the many changes Disney has announced to their release slate, Marvel's Shang-Chi has been pushed back to May 7, 2021. This puts the film right at the start of the summer blockbuster season in that coveted early May spot normally reserved for the MCU's biggest releases.
Previous MCU movies that have released in early May include Iron Man, The Avengers, and Captain America: Civil War. When it came time to release Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, however, Marvel moved their releases up into late April, but the principle remained the same - a major MCU release is a sign the summer blockbuster season has officially begun.
While the reason Shang-Chi is now releasing on this coveted date is due to the shifting schedule of pretty much every upcoming movie, it's still an exciting development for the film. Starring Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as the (real) Mandarin, and Awkwafina in an as-of-yet undisclosed role, Shang-Chi is the first MCU movie with a predominately Asian cast, not to mention its first Asian lead (or in this case, Asian-Canadian), in addition to an Asian-American director, Destin Daniel Cretton. Snagging this important May release date now puts more attention on Shang-Chi. And as fans clamor for greater diversity and representation in media, positioning Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings as one of the first big contenders at the summer 2021 box office is an excellent move.
Source: Disney