The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues on (no doubt long after we are all dust) and now, according a report detailing future Marvel projects, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has successfully spawned its own franchise with a sequel due to begin production in 2023. As per a report by The GWW, Shang-Chi 2 is still a little ways off, with a 2023 production date suggesting a 2024 release, but thanks to both the critical and financial success garnered by the new MCU hero's first outing, audiences can look forward to more from the master of kung fu.

Released back in September, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings chronicles the story of Shang-Chi, a skilled martial artist who was trained at a young age to be an assassin by his father Wenwu. After leaving the nefarious Ten Rings organization and opting to live a normal life in San Francisco, Shang-Chi is soon drawn back into the clandestine world of the Ten Rings and is forced to confront the past he thought he had left behind.

Starring Simu Liu as the title character alongside Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, and Tony Leung, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has successfully introduced an undiscovered world of martial arts and magic into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as debuting its version Asian lead. Typically of Marvel movies these days, Shang-Chi ends with several post-credits scenes, the events of which will no doubt lead into the follow-up.

The likes of Simu Liu and Awkwafina are expected to return for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2, with director Destin Daniel Cretton having previously stated his desire to come back for more, despite his initial concerns over joining such a huge franchise. "Yeah, yeah, I would," the filmmaker said when asked if he would be interested in helming a Shang-Chi sequel. "When I said that to my agent, it was real. I was basically just telling my agent, 'I don't want to do those types of movies.' I know I was getting to the place in my career where it's easy for agents to try just and push me into that direction, but I was not feeling like I wanted to. A part of it was definitely fear. Fear of losing creative control."

For now, the next phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has more than enough to contend with. Audiences still have the likes of Eternals, and the multiversal shenanigans of Spider-Man: No Way Home to look forward to in 2021, while next year will see several sequels hit the big screen, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. As for 2023, the year that will allegedly see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2 enter production, Marvel will unleash even more sequels in the form of The Marvels, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, before introducing the superhero family The Fantastic Four to the fray. This comes to us from The GWW.