When does Shang-Chi take place? Where does the movie fit in the MCU timeline?

With the Marvel timeline now well and truly twisted out of shape thanks to Avengers: Endgame and now Loki, it’s quite tricky to keep track of the MCU’s goings-on.

On June 24th, the newest trailer dropped for Marvel’s first Asian-led movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and it offers up glimpses of new and familiar characters and gives us more details about Shang-Chi himself.

But just when does Shang-Chi take place and where does the movie fit in the MCU timeline?

• READ MORE: Shang-Chi toy leak may debunk Fin Fang Foom theories

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Official Trailer

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings trailer 2

The second trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings emerged on June 24th with the film’s release now just over two months away.

Following our first few glimpses of the film in April’s teaser, the new trailer offers up more info on the titular Ten Rings and shows that they are ancient devices that have been passed through Shang-Chi’s family for generations and give the wearer powers.

We also learn more about Shang-Chi’s origins and family as the trailer hints at a close relationship with his mother while positioning his father, Wenwu (aka. The Mandarin), as the film’s main villain.

The trailer shows off plenty of action-packed scenes including a cameo from non-other than Abomination who appears to be squaring off against Wong from Doctor Strange in a cage fight.

• READ MORE: Abomination’s Shang-Chi trailer cameo explored

Opinion: When does Shang-Chi take place in the MCU timeline?

It is most likely that Shang-Chi takes place in or after 2023 following the Avengers managed to reverse Thanos’s snap and defeat the villain in Avengers: Endgame.

Since the 2019 film, all of Marvel’s new releases, apart from Black Widow, have taken place after the events of the Blip and that appears to be the case in Shang-Chi as life has returned to a state of normality following the five years of the Blip.

The jump forward in time also explains why Shang-Chi was nowhere to be seen in Endgame’s final fight as he had not yet become a hero as this film looks set to explore.

However, while the film may be set in the MCU’s modern day (2023-24), Shang-Chi also appears to contain several flashbacks, not only to Shang-Chi’s childhood but also to hundreds of years prior, to the Ten Rings’ origins in ancient China.

So while the bulk of the film may take place in the MCU’s current timeline, there are sections that will take place long before the events of Captain America: The First Avenger.

Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings arrives in cinemas on September 3rd, 2021.

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