The 'Shang-Chi' Trailer's Abomination Vs. Wong Battle Has Marvel Fans Shocked
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Damn. You know what? Marvel really knows how to do it. Its fans are already hyped for a movie like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings. But it's not enough, apparently. Solution: grab two random characters from its 13-years-long history, put them in a cage, and make em' fight! That'll do it!
We're being earnest here. Because the new Shang-Chi trailer ended with a shot of what fans believe is the Abomination—who, mind you, hasn't shown up since Ed frickin' Norton was the Hulk—and Doctor Strange mainstay Wong, going all Fight Club at each other. It's awesome. Those magic sparky circles going against Abomination's Jose Canseco muscles. Give you the feeling you had when you played with action figures as a kid. But it's not just us. Marvel fans are also losing their collective minds over the surprise cameos. When you're done losing your mind, you should know that the inclusion of the two deep-cut characters has some big implications for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—where we'll most definitely be running into these bad boys again.
First up: the return of Captain Emil Blonsky, the Tim Roth-played military man who turns into the Abomination. We last saw the baddie nearly die at the end of 2008's The Incredible Hulk. When the Hulk defeated him, the United States Armed Forces and General Thaddeus Ross locked him in a cell in Alaska. Thirteen years is a lot of superhero time to cover, but the Abomination obviously made his way out of that cell at some point. We do know that both Roth and William Hurt (who plays Ross) will return in the She-Hulk TV series, so it's possible that Ross released the Abomination himself—and is in cahoots with Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Contessa Allegra de Fontaine to put together a team of villains/anti-heroes, as is widely speculated. As for Wong? We last saw him saving space and time as part of the good-guyed Avengers: Endgame militia, so maybe he's just sharpening his skills until Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness blows up the MCU. (Again.) Either way, the cameos tie Shang-Chi to the larger MCU in a big way. It's possible that the hero will cross either of the two's paths en route to an appearance in either She-Hulk or the next Doctor Strange outing down the line.
While we're at it, can we talk about that giant water dragon in the trailer? Toys have revealed this character to be called the Great Protector, but after the trailer, some think that Marvel has changed the name and origins of longtime villain Fin Fang Foom, whose name has been called out for perpetuating harmful stereotypes. (Shang-Chi star Simu Liu has said that this character will not be included in the movie.) That said, it's more likely that Marvel is going Game of Thrones on us and including a giant dragon to amp up the stakes. Let's hope he gets in the cage match, too.
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