Don’t Forget: Doomsday’s Shang-Chi Once Beat Up A Marvel God
Avengers: Doomsday (2026) is coming this year, and the first official trailer has given us some awesome reveals, such as the return of Simu Liu as Shang-Chi fighting Channing Tatum's Gambit. But this pairing, as well as the idea of Shang-Chi fighting Doctor Doom, has created some debate.
Shang-Chi is a martial arts-based hero who was introduced in the ‘70s and has evolved in many ways since. But one thing he's never made a point of doing is facing Doctor Doom. While the comics justify this, many forget that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version has defeated a God.
How Did Shang-Chi Defeat a God in the MCU?
Shang-Chi was introduced in the MCU in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), and in that film we learn how he was trained to be a skilled fighter and assassin at a young age before he ran away from his father, the leader of the Ten Rings introduced in Iron Man (2008).
The film takes him on a journey through the many ideas introduced in Chinese myth and to a new realm called Ta-Lo, where fighters exist to protect the land from a dark entity known as the Dweller in Darkness. But Shang-Chi's father, Wenwu, uses his powerful ten rings that make him immortal and enhance his fighting skills to free the creature.
Realizing he's been manipulated to release the Dweller in hopes of reuniting with his dead wife, Wenwu sacrifices himself and gifts the rings to Shang-Chi. Shang-Chi then uses his skills and reliance on allies like his sister Xialing and the massive dragon, the Great Protector, to kill the Dweller. But it's his use of the ten rings that lands the killing strike.
Shang-Chi's Skills Are More Impressive Than You Think
On the surface, it's easy to see Shang-Chi as just the guy who fights really well and nothing more. But there's so much more to him than his fighting skills that's easily forgotten. Trained to kill, he has learned to fight with restraint, which is incredibly hard to do when the knee-jerk reaction is to kill any threat.
He also learned his mother's style, which wasn't about violence but rather a transference of energy. Shang-Chi's entire existence as a hero is about balancing restraint and action to create a fighting style that's about more than killing. The ten rings simply amplified that because they allow him to turn them into weapons and even leap great distances.
His battle awareness, with or without the rings, could make him an easy threat to a Black Widow or a super soldier, and his ability to understand and use the rings shows how well he can adapt. He may be laughed at in Avengers: Doomsday, but let's not forget that even fighting an X-Man without being scared is a feat in itself. Shang-Chi isn't an Avenger because the options were low; he earned that place because of his skills in battle and kindness.
Shang-Chi Could Still Be a Threat to Doctor Doom in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Shang-Chi has been operating as a hero for years since we were first introduced to him, and in that time it's likely he's trained with the ten rings and learned new tricks. With that in mind, fighting Gambit must feel more like a warm-up than a true fight. Therefore, if he can get close enough to Doom, it would be hard for the villain not to be overwhelmed.
The only edge Doom realistically has is his genius in science and magic. We still don't know what the ten rings are, but we know that Doom is a powerful threat, and if he breaks those rings, that could be a problem. But that's literally the only thing he could do against a character like Shang-Chi.
It's easy to discount a guy we haven't seen since 2021, especially when he's surrounded by so few superpowered Avengers, but he is more than worthy of his place. He may even be one of the strongest Avengers on the team, and when we see him take on the Sentinels and even Doom, we will surely see that. Frankly, it's been way too long since we've seen Shang-Chi in action, and this is the best film to finally see him again ahead of his sequel.
