Rumor: Dr. Doom Sidelined Shang-Chi From Lead ‘Avengers’ Role?

Robert Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have impacted future storylines more than Jonathan Majors’ drama. Although the Kang storyline was a major casualty, another character may have also had his role in the MCU shuttered.

According to Inverse, Shang-Chi was to be a significant player in the fifth Avengers film (previously titled Kang Dynasty). The character has had little to no action inside the MCU since his solo outing in 2021.

Inverse does not expand on where it got this information. However, if Marvel recycles parts of the original Avengers 5 script, Shang-Chi could face off against Downey’s Doctor Victor Von Doom. If you’re an old-school Marvel comic collector, you’ll know this wouldn’t be the first time the two crossed paths.

The Master of Kung Fu got to play a deadly game against Doctor Doom way back in 1978 in the 60th issue of the hero’s comic book. If you want to read that issue, it’s available at a pretty reasonable price (around $8-$20) via eBay.

Simu Liu portrayed Shang-Chi in the MCU flick, which was directed by Just Mercy‘s Destin Daniel Cretton. The film pulled in around $430m worldwide, about double its budget.

Although the film didn’t make as big an impact on pop culture as other Marvel movies, it would be hard to ignore Shang-Chi’s success. Leaving him out of future projects would be detrimental to foreign markets.

However, since Disney’s new policy is to prioritize quality over quantity, we may not see another Shang-Chi sequel until sometime after Doomsday. That is, if they ever decide to focus on more solo films centered around characters that aren’t household names.

Given the stunt casting of Robert Downey Jr. as one of Marvel’s greatest villains and the upcoming Fantastic Four feature, the franchise’s new path forward may be to focus on guaranteed hits rather than gambles.

[Source: Inverse]