Marvel’s ‘Shang-chi’ To Exclusively Premiere In Theaters, Not On Disney+

The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will not be accessible on Disney Plus Premier Access on the day it is released in theaters. Instead, the film will be part of an “interesting experiment,” according to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, with a theatrical release on September 3 and a Disney Plus release 45 days later. Disney made the announcement during its quarterly conference call on Thursday.

According to Chapek’s comments, the studio is treating Shang-Chi as a make-good to theaters as well as an experiment in general. On the one hand, it doesn’t want to irritate theater owners as it did with Black Widow and Jungle Cruise’s late shift to streaming. Moving a major Marvel film out of cinemas a few weeks before its debut would undoubtedly accomplish this. In addition, a new release strategy will assist the corporation in making better decisions about future products. While this may make sense from an economic one, it’s disheartening when you consider what these films mean to studios. 

On Thursday, Marvel unveiled a teaser for Shang-Chi, which features DJ Snake, Rick Ross, and Rich Brian performing one of the film’s original songs. While the teaser features a lot of Simu Liu’s titular hero, it also features additional footage from Abomination’s fight with Wong.

Shang-Chi, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, stars Simu Liu as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest hero. He’s a man who was raised to be a warrior but abandoned his training to try to make a living on his own. Now he’s being lured back into the realm of his family’s legacy, which involves a group known as the Ten Rings. Shang-chi’s father Wenwu, is played by Tony Leung, his friend Katy is played by Awkwafina, and Jiang Na, one of the women who trained him as a child, is played by Michelle Yeoh. 

Shang-chi will be released in theaters worldwide on September 3. Watch the new teaser below.