In an entertainment landscape that’s been altered by COVID-19, Marvel fans are among those who have been impacted the most. This marks the first year since 2009 that there hasn’t been a new film installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So you can imagine that fans are always eager for any sliver of good news that comes their way. Well, thankfully, such news has arrived, as the delayed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has finally wrapped filming. And the cast and crew are celebrating the achievement with some sweet social media posts.
Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton took to Instagram to announce that filming had officially wrapped. The post included a sweet photo that showed him, his wife Nikki Chapman, his sister Joy Cretton and actor Zhang Meng. You can check out the image down below:
In addition, Simu Liu, the actor who is set to bring the Master of Kung Fu to life on the big screen, also shared an Instagram photo of himself with Cretton. And in the caption, he confirmed that filming has wrapped and expressed his excitement for fans to see the movie. Check out the post below:
Filmmaking is hardly ever easy, which is definitely true when it comes to a massive blockbuster film, but such a task is even more difficult in the age of COVID-19. Cretton, Liu and their collaborators have to be proud of being able to finally finish shooting, especially considering the obstacles they had to face early on.
Filming for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings originally began back in February in Australia. Production was unfortunately forced to halt in early March when Cretton was tested for COVID-19. Luckily, the filmmaker tested negative, but Disney still pressed pause on filming, with the same being done to the studios’ various other productions at the time.
This didn’t stop Simu Liu from staying proactive during the shutdown, though. The physically fit actor continued to work out in isolation, even jokingly sharing his "progress" with fans. And by August, Shang-Chi was reported to be back in production in Sydney, where local news outlets were covering its progress.
Although the movie has wrapped principal photography, not much is known about it at to this point. The plot is being kept heavily under wraps (in typical Marvel fashion), and the movie only has a few confirmed cast members including Liu, Tony Leung and Awkwafina. Despite the lack of specifics, Cretton has expressed excitement in getting to tell a story that centers on a new MCU hero and relishes the fact that he’s introducing an Asian lead into the sprawling franchise.
Shang-Chi’s ultimate destination is still a bit uncertain, as the ongoing pandemic could cause its release date to shift again. But it’s still good to know that, at the very least, the film has been shot and is heading into post-production.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, 2021.
