Is That Hulk Villain Abomination In The Shang-Chi Trailer?

The latest trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings came with quite an MCU surprise as the pay-off saw a fight scene between what appeared to be two returning MCU characters. While he looks different, the hulking figure is clearly Emil Blonsky, a.k.a the Abomination, who is making his return to the MCU before his confirmed role in She-Hulk more than a decade after his appearance in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. The fact that he has appeared out of nowhere is bound to pose questions of whether it's really him and why he's back in these circumstances.

After years of waiting, Shang-Chi is joining the MCU as one of Phase 4's new heroes (and potential Avengers), with Simu Liu making his Marvel debut as the titular hero. Even though the MCU has included portrayals of the Ten Rings and the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 and Ant-Man, the versions appearing in Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings will be far removed. No longer just a terrorist organization used for Aldrich Killian's machinations, the Rings are now true magical artefacts, as they are in the comics, with a brand-new spin. The Mandarin is also more comics accurate after Iron Man 3's Trevor Slattery trickery.

As with any Marvel Studios movie, there is a lot of secrecy surrounding Shang-Chi's cinematic debut, but the film's second trailer featured an unexpected player, specifically from the Hulk franchise. The second trailer focuses more on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' world-building, but the final scene dropped a surprise appearance bomb for Marvel fans. As Shang-Chi and Katy are watching an underground fighting tournament take place, The Incredible Hulk baddie Abomination suddenly appears as one of the featured fighters in the arena, taking on a Master of the Mystic Arts - in fact, it appears to be none other than Doctor Strange's right-hand man, Wong. Though Abomination's design is different - including new ears - it is unmistakably the same character, as the comics-accurate look confirms.

Ahead of this second Shang-Chi trailer release, it was not known that Abomination would be showing up at all in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Whether or not Tim Roth is actually reprising the role properly in the film remains to be seen but it would not be shocking if a stunt actor is playing Abomination in the film through motion-capture performance. Following his surprise reveal, the bigger question now is why is Abomination in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and how significant his role actually is. It feels safe to say that this is likely meant to be a cameo more than anything, with this just being a glimpse of that. Since Abomination hasn't been an active part in the MCU since The Incredible Hulk in 2008, it wouldn't necessarily make sense for an MCU Phase 4 movie like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to give him a big spotlight.

His appearance is more than likely meant to set up Roth's big return in the Disney+ series She-Hulk, as Abomination is confirmed to be a villain for the first season. At the very least, Shang-Chi may touch upon what Abomination has been up to since the last time fans saw him in the MCU. It's still neat to see how Marvel can bring back a character like Abomination after him having been absent for over 10 years and work him into a completely different MCU story like Shang-Chi. It will also be intriguing to see whether or not Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will address Abomination's new look as the Hulk baddie has definitely evolved since 2008.

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