At the recent BoxLunch Holiday Gala in Los Angeles, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ Simu Liu was on hand as the pop culture retailer’s Giving Ambassador for the holiday season. Gizmodo caught up with the Marvel Studios star to talk about the season of giving — the event celebrated 150 million meals donated to Feeding America from a partnership between the organisation and retailer — and to see if he could give any update for the future of his MCU franchise.
Sabina Graves. Gizmodo: I know you probably can’t say much about where Shang-Chi’s heading to next, as Marvel has eyes and ears everywhere, but with your Simu manifesting powers, what do you hope to manifest for your character?
Simu Liu: More karaoke! I want him to do karaoke with all the different characters in the MCU — the more serious they are, the better. Because I think, you know, you get a couple of drinks in anyone and they’re good to go.
Gizmodo: I think M’Baku (Winston Duke) would be down.
Liu: M’baku would be so down. I think I think partying it up with the Wakandans would be pretty great. Oh my god, yes.
Gizmodo: Seriously though, do you get any input on where the character of Shang-Chi is going to go next?
Liu: I definitely am prone to a little text or email to Kevin [Feige, head of Marvel Studios] every once in a while. Like, “Hey, Kevin, you know what we need?” And you know, who knows at what point he stopped listening to me? Maybe a long time ago. But I will say it has been it’s been a wonderful collaborative experience. I like to think that we value each other’s input.
Gizmodo: And what about Shang-Chi director Destin [Daniel Cretton] getting announced as the Avengers: Kang Dynasty director?
Liu: Oh my gosh — like incredible, incredible news.
Gizmodo: What would you like to share about what makes Destin stand out as a collaborator? And do you hope he’ll bring you along as his plus one on his new adventure?
Liu: I think I’ll be along for the ride. I think he’ll bring a couple of others as well. You know, these movies aren’t small in scope by any means, but I honestly think he’s the perfect storyteller for a movie of that size and scale. I think with Shang Chi what he was able to prove so well is that he was able to handle a $US150 ($208) million universe. It’s a large sum of money universe, and [he] really [made] it about a personal journey. Whenever you have someone that doesn’t get lost in the spectacle of what has to be done because it’s a Marvel movie — I think it’s really special. He’ll really focus on the grounding human element of every story and that’s exactly what we need… for Shang, for the Avengers, for everything. Hire him for everything, he’s amazing.
Gizmodo: We’re here for a BoxLunch party, and it’s so awesome to see your partnership with them and Feeding America. So real quick, what are your holiday season do’s and don’ts?
Liu: Don’t hold back. Get in the giving spirit. Do get your shopping done ahead of time. Shopping going through the mall on Christmas Eve is not going to be good. You’re setting yourself up for failure.
At the ceremony for the event, BoxLunch pledged a donation of $US100,000 ($138,820) to Feeding America, which Liu matched, helping provide 2 million more meals at local food banks. BoxLunch already has a program in place where every $US10 ($14) spent at the company’s stores or online equals a meal donated to someone in need through its partnership with Feeding America, with each store then providing the donations to local food banks.
For more info or to shop online visit BoxLunch.com.
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