Simu Liu Wants Shang-Chi & Spider-Man Team-Up To Adapt This Comic Story

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu wants Marvel Studios to adapt an aspect of a certain storyline from the comics so that Shang-Chi and Spider-Man can team up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Shang-Chi is set to introduce its titular character, who’s also known as Marvel’s Master of Kung Fu. Director Daniel Cretton’s film will star Liu as Shang-Chi, Marvel’s first Asian lead, alongside a predominately Asian and Asian-American cast including Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, and Fala Chen. Shang-Chi will release in theaters on September 3 before also becoming available on Disney+ 45 days later.

Shang-Chi was trained to be a ruthless assassin from birth. After spending a decade of his life in San Francisco, the film will see him forced to confront his past and the Ten Rings, a criminal organization run by his father, the real Mandarin (Leung), not Ben Kingsley’s character from Iron Man 3. With the help of his estranged sister, Shang-Chi will fight to claim the Ten Rings responsible for his family’s power. Without revealing much, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said that Shang-Chi will fit into the MCU’s Phase 4 and set up its character to return sooner rather than later.

In a Screen Rant exclusive interview with Liu from the Shang-Chi press junket, the actor talked about the future of his character. In particular, he was asked where he would like to see his character go next. Liu said he wants his character to team up with Spider-Man to adapt the comics' "Spider-Island" storyline. Read what Liu said below:

“There’s this very famous story in which Shang-Chi and Spider-Man have a little team-up moment,” said Liu. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with this, but in the comics, Spider-Man needs a little bit of help with his martial arts; he needs to brush up a little bit. And says, yeah, I’ll help you, I’ll develop a whole style based on your abilities - and they call it the Way of the Spider. I’m outing myself as a huge comic book nerd. But that’s something I really want to see and I really hope that Kevin [Feige] gets to see this interview so that he can potentially put it in a future movie somewhere.”

During Marvel Comics’ 2011 "Spider-Island" storyline, several hundred New Yorkers, including prominent crime figures, manifest spider-powers. As the Avengers attempt to defend the city against spider-powered villains, Peter Parker/Spider-Man loses his Spider-Sense. Or, as it’s affectionately referred to in the MCU, his “Peter tingle.” In order to compensate for this loss, Madame Spider recommends that Peter train with Shang-Chi. Together, they develop a martial arts style known as the Way of the Spider, a hybrid version of Peter's own combat style and Shang-Chi's martial arts.

Following Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be the first Phase 4 film to take place after Avengers: Endgame. The remainder of Marvel’s Phase 4 slate will include films like Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While some of those films will obviously factor heavily into the recently-liberated multiverse, it’s unclear how Shang-Chi will allude to that story. Regardless, Liu did most of his own stunts in what is shaping up to be a century-spanning epic featuring some of the MCU’s best action sequences—which pays homage to classic martial arts films. If the next Spider-Man film assembles multiple Spider-Men, he could teach them all a thing or two.