Marvel dropped the latest trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings during Thursday’s night NBA game, and the new preview noticeably kicked things up in every department: Action, magic rings, Michelle Yeoh, and a completely unexpected Marvel cameo. Tucked in the final moments of the trailer, a huge hulking beast is seen wrecking his opponent in a cage fight, and it didn’t take long for social media to explode with fans saying it’s the Abomination.
The character was last seen in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, where he was played by Tim Roth and battled Edward Norton’s Hulk. Granted, Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers, but the film is still MCU canon. Interestingly, the Abomination has been poised for a Marvel comeback. Roth was cast in the upcoming She-Hulk series for Disney+, but absolutely nobody expected that his return would be teased in Shang-Chi. It’s an absolutely random choice on Marvel part, and if it’s a sign of how unexpected Phase 4 will be, we’ll take it.
But while the Abomination’s presence seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation, the underwater dragon thing has Marvel fans confused. In the trailer, Shang-Chi can be seen floating in the water while a massive dragon swims up to greet him.
The immediate reaction is that the dragon is the classic Marvel Comics character Fin Fang Foom. However, Shang-Chi star Simu Liu has already stated in interviews that Fin Fang Foom is not in the film. On top of that, Lego sets are already available featuring the dragon character, and it’s labeled as The Great Protector. Is there a possibility that this is a whole lot of misdirection on Marvel’s part and the dragon really is Fin Fang Foom? Maybe. But it seems like a whole lot of trouble just to hide a character that, well, isn’t that hidden.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lands in theaters on September 3.
