Shang-Chi May Be the Next Avenger of the MCU

2021 is definitely making up for whatever kind of mess 2020 was with all kinds of content that are coming out basically all year. Not only do we have a few shows coming out like Loki, but there are some movies on the horizon as well. One of those films, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, brings a new character into the MCU to fight alongside the Avengers. The film is set to come out this fall. 

In this film, main character Shang-Chi is dealing with a lot. His past is coming back to haunt him since he was trained from a young age to be an assassin. If he wants to forge his own path and break away from his father's plans for him, it's not going to be easy.

Now that the trailer has dropped, fans will be even more curious about how Shang-Chi will fit into the overall universe and if he'll become the next member to join the Avengers. 

Right now, it's unclear if Shang-Chi will be an Avenger since we don't know how his movie will end. But based on other films in the MCU, that could definitely be the case. Keep in mind that not all the superheroes of the MCU were brought into the Avengers. Some ended up fighting side by side after some time, like the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are their own group.

As a part of Marvel NOW!, the relaunch for some Marvel comics, Shang-Chi does join the Avengers. He is recruited into the group by Captain America and Iron Man. In the MCU now, Iron Man is dead and Captain America seemingly is too, so Marvel may have to find some other way to fit Shang-Chi into the overall storyline. 

There aren't any real indications of when the movie takes place either, though. We don't know if it takes place before or after Thanos' snap, so he could still have been recruited by Cap and Mr. Stark.

The main villain in Shang-Chi is the main character's own father, Wenwu, who is also known as the Mandarin. Unlike in the comics, neither Zheng Zu nor Fu Manchu will be the name of the titular hero's dad. 

Wenwu leads the terrorist organization the Ten Rings. Those who watched Iron Man 3 may recognize the Mandarin's name as a villain from that movie, but unfortunately, this wasn't a reference to the upcoming film. 

In fact, the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 wasn't really the Mandarin at all. He was really Trevor Slattery, an actor hired to pretend to be the Mandarin by Aldrich Killian. But we learned from the short film All Hail the King that a real Mandarin was still out there and that the Ten Rings have quite a bit of power.

A deleted scene from the first Ant-Man movie would also reintroduce the Ten Rings. According to Polygon, in the scene, a Ten Rings member is present when bad guy Darren Cross is trying to sell his Yellowjacket armor. It's a small but meaningful representation that the organization has been around all along.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters Sept. 3, 2021.