Marvel fans are counting down the days to Avengers: Doomsday. It's the film that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga has all been building towards (and you know we will absolutely say the same thing about Avengers: Secret Wars when it comes out) and it's going to be a star-studded affair.
Robert Downey Jr. is headlining the film as the nefarious Doctor Doom, who looks to captialize on the incursions taking place throughout the multiverse and perhaps punish those who stands in his way. That will bring a lot of Avengers out of retirement as a multitude of Marvel stars (including the cast of the X-Men) will face off against him in a bid to save everything they know and love.
Among the returnees will be a Marvel fan-favorite and he's particularly excited to return to the MCU franchise. He also said what we were all thinking when discussing his upcoming comeback. We were in attendance and managed to capture the magical moment.
Simu Liu's hilarious response to his Shang-Chi return in Avengers: Doomsday is so accurate
Simu Liu made a special appearance at New York Comic-Con this weekend for a Shang-Chi And The Hidden Panel chat with fans and he had a hilariously appropriate response to a question about his upcoming comeback as Shang-Chi in Avengers: Doomsday. When asked about his initial reaction to his long-awaited return, he jokingly said: "It's about goddamn time!"
Receiving a huge cheer from the audience, he giggled to himself before adding: "Let the records show that I was just kidding." And while he was indeed just having a laugh with the audience, he was also saying what everyone was thinking - and has been thinking for the past four years.
Liu made his debut in the MCU in 2021's Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, which was extremely successful during the pandemic and is widely considered one of the best MCU movies of the Multiverse Saga. A sequel was greenlit shortly afterwards and it has been in development ever since. However, in spite of all that success and hype, Shang-Chi has yet to return to the main MCU timeline (Liu has reprised the role in animated MCU-adjacent spinoffs What If...? and Marvel Zombies).
There is a lot of excitement about all of the characters' returns in Avengers: Doomsday, but there is no doubt that there were a lot of cheers at Simu Liu's name coming up during that five-hour livestream. There was a lot of excitement about the possibilities that Shang could bring to the franchise and the crossover potential, but the lack of continuation in a four-year time period had fans frustrated -particularly after the Shang-Chi post-credits scene implied he'd be heavily involved going forward.
With all of the rumors of cancellations surrounding the franchise after the Multiverse Saga's highs and lows, there were fears that Doomsday might just quietly ignore some of the saga's newer heroes. We're so thankful that is not the case when it comes to Shang-Chi.
Liu has expressed excitement about the return, adding that it felt like a dream to go to work everyday and see so many actors that he admired each and every day (perhaps some that he even grew up watching), adding that it was surreal to see so many of them wearing spandex. He also potentially confirmed sharing a scene with Sir Ian McKellen's Magneto and Sir Patrick Stewart's Professor X in what will undoubtedly have the X-Men fans speculating for the next year.
It goes without saying that Shang-Chi is one of the best Marvel movies of the Multiverse Saga and we can't wait to see Liu reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday. His return is long overdue but we are so ready to see him share the screen with so many Marvel icons. To quote the MCU star himself, it's about time.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters on December 18, 2026.