Simu Liu is doing the press rounds to promote his new animated film, In Your Dreams, and, as you might expect, the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star has been quizzed about his upcoming MCU return in Avengers: Doomsday quite a bit.
Liu hasn't revealed any details that would get him in trouble with the ever-watchful Marvel "snipers," but he has been willing to divulge a little more than many of his cast mates.
While speaking to THR, the actor was asked about shooting Doomsday over the summer in London and working with such a massive cast.
"I think everybody experiences their own version of imposter syndrome at some point in their lives, and stepping onto set with some of the names that you are alluding to, I definitely felt a lot of that. So, yes, there was the insecurity and the imposter syndrome, but then there was the fun part of, like, 'Oh my God, that’s …' I don’t want to say the wrong name if they’re not announced [already], but it was like, 'That’s Sir Ian McKellen, and he’s wearing his superhero costume.' It was such a wonderful way to meet somebody that you admire so much. And to get to play in the sandbox with them and, in a lot of cases, play with characters that they had developed over decades, it was just a really, really special experience. And I think that translates to the screen really, really well."
Not exactly a major revelation, but there you go: Magneto will be suiting-up in the movie.
"So I think it’s going to blow people’s minds when they see it in theaters," Liu went on. "There were so many actors and so many characters where you’re like, 'Just seeing them interact on screen is worth the price of admission alone.' And then we have all this other stuff on top of that, so I’m really excited about it."
Liu was also asked about the infamous Marvel secrecy, and admitted that he's still not entirely sure what to expect from Doomsday.
"I believe I have, in my head, a version of the story that’s been presented to me. Am I entirely sure that that’s the version that’s going to end up on the screen when the movie comes out next year? Not a whole lot."
Finally, Liu was asked if Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton has shared any details about his next project, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
"We’ve exchanged a lot of words and had a lot of conversations about it. It was more so leading up to it, because we were all shooting at Pinewood in London. So it was special just to be in that world, and even though he wasn’t directly on my project, it was still really great to see him ramping up again. He’s such an incredibly thoughtful director, and everyone over there is super lucky to have him. And even in what he’s shared with me, it just proves why he’s the right director for the job. He’s got all the toys in the universe to play with on this one, but he’s really character and story first. So, like everybody else, I just can’t wait to see it."
As far as we know, a Shang-Chi sequel is still in development, though we haven't had any official word since the project was announced shortly after the first movie was released.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
You can check out the full (for now) Doomsday cast list below.
• Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston as Loki
• Lewis Pullman as Sentry
• Florence Pugh as Yelena
• Danny Ramirez as Falcon
• Ian McKellen as Magneto
• Sebastian Stan as Bucky
• Winston Duke as M’Baku
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor
• Kelsey Grammer as Beast
• James Marsden as Cyclops
• Channing Tatum as Gambit
• Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
• Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
• Patrick Stewart as Professor X
• Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
• Letitia Wright as Black Panther
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
• Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
• Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
• Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
• David Harbour as Red Guardian
• Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
• Anthony Mackie as Captain America