Shang-Chi could suffer because Marvel can’t push pause on its big story
Courtesy of Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an important film for Marvel for lots of reasons. It's the studio's first return to theatrical exclusive release after over a year and a half of delays due to COVID-19 (which included shifting Black Widow to Disney Plus as well as theaters). It's the studio's first film with an Asian lead, a long-awaited milestone that took over a decade for the company to actually accomplish. And it marks the real" start of its Phase 4 films, advancing the future of the MCU with fresh stories post-Endgame.
But Shang-Chi - and its less-than-ideal release timing, coming as theaters are seeing smaller turnouts as the delta variant continues to spike in the US - also highlights the MCU's biggest problem: its...