Four years after the film’s release, Disney has yet to confirm a sequel to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. However, Simu Liu has a list of his top three directors should the original’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton, be unavailable. Among the Academy Award–nominated and –winning names, Liu mentioned Chloé Zhao.
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Zhao has previously worked in the MCU with Eternals. It was the first Marvel movie to get a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and on Criticless it has a 27% Bogus rating. While she has said in interviews that going from small, art-house films to making a major tentpole was intense, Zhao never publicly criticized the studio or the audience.
Shang-Chi was honestly a serviceable movie.
ETERNALS was the film equivalent to a Valium overdose.
This would be a downgrade. https://t.co/Vs38Rqo0cr
— Brett Dasovic (@Brettdasovic) December 29, 2025
Whether Disney would want to give her a second chance is questionable. Zhao may not even want to make another attempt at a blockbuster. Given the failure of Eternals, Liu’s suggestion that she helm a Shang-Chi sequel is surprising.
Shang-Chi Sequel Stalled
Liu was asked for his list of ideal directors while promoting the release of his new show on Peacock, The Copenhagen Test.
lee isaac chung, daniels, chloe zhao
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) December 28, 2025
Last November, Liu made headlines when he took to Threads and complained about the lack of Asian representation in films. “Put some asians in literally anything right now,” he said. “The amount of backslide in our representation onscreen is f**king appalling. Studios think we’re ‘risky.’”
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Suggesting Zhao, one of the more prominent Asian directors working today, for a prospective Shang-Chi sequel may not be an endorsement of her past work. He may simply want to work with a director who he feels understands the character and material.
But while Liu is welcome to offer suggestions for a director, the fact is that a Shang-Chi 2 has apparently stalled. That too is a point of frustration for the actor.
Courting the Chinese Box Office
When a sequel to 2025’s Superman was given the green light just months after the film’s debut, Liu reacted to the announcement with a blank stare emoji on X. It was hardly a congratulatory gesture.
😐
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) September 4, 2025
While Shang-Chi made a respectable $432 million at the worldwide box office, and Liu will appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, Disney may be reluctant to give him a sequel. In 2017 the Chinese-born actor described China as a “third-world” country where “people were starving.” Shang-Chi was consequently rejected by the Chinese film censors.
(L-R): Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Sprite (Lia McHugh) in Marvel Studios’ ETERNALS. Photo by Sophie Mutevelian. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
The Chinese box office is becoming increasingly significant to Disney. Zootopia 2 opened to a stunning $272 million five-day total in China, and Avatar: Fire and Ash earned $41.3 million in China within its first two days. As Disney looks to maintain favor with the Asian market, pouring resources into a film with a star whose movies won’t be released in China may have put an end to Liu’s franchise.
Conclusion
If Liu hopes to work with Zhao, he may have to step away from the MCU. For now, Zhao seems to have returned to the smaller-budget films where she made her mark, and her only comic book movie failed to capture an audience. Meanwhile, Liu simply isn’t marketable on the global scale that Disney is seeking.
Do you think Shang Chi will get a sequel? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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Oh dear dear Liu Liu, just be happy that you actually got to be in the Swan Song of the M-She-U. Shang Chi 2 just ain’t happening except in maybe in the New Universe.
Simp Liu: ::says anything::
Me: I don’t believe a word you’re saying.
Let her direct it. No one will watch it either way.
just like eternals. a movie no one has talked about for years now.
so it’ll flop even harder than the first one or go right to streaming.
what a win!
Disney does enough stunt casting by race and/or gender swapping characters. And it has always backfired. Having Zaeo or whatever her name is was the first time they did stunt casting for the director role too.
They weren’t looking for a director who could direct a super hero movie, they were looking specifically for a minority who checked multiple boxes that they could easily control.
Look at Phase 4 and 5 and it is awash with directors who should never have been given the helm. This was exposed when The Marvels director, Nia DaCosta, left before the movie was even finished to go work in England and the Disney machine didn’t skip a beat. She’s a black female who created a critical darling film based on the play Hedda but soaked it in as much Alphabet ideology as possible.
She was perfect when Fiege was casting for the role “Director of The Marvels”.