Simu Liu Reveals Why Shang-Chi's Battle With Gambit in AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Was Punishing for Him

There were a lot of exciting moments teased in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, and one of them included a showdown between Simu Liu's Shang-Chi and Channing Tatum's Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit.

Liu recently spoke with Brandon Davis about filming the sequence, and while he obviously couldn't get into the story or explain why Shang-Chi and Gambit end up throwing punches, he did pull back the curtain on what made the fight so satisfying to shoot. It also sounds like it came with a physical price.

The actor explained that Shang-Chi has grown since audiences last saw him, describing this version of the character as "slightly more mature and self-assured" and someone who's "ready for fight" regardless of who's standing across from him.

When Davis asked what it was like working with Joe Russo and Anthony Russo on the action scene, Liu admitted that avoiding spoilers wasn't easy, saying:

“Yeah. It’s so hard trying to tiptoe around these spoilers.” He then explained why this particular fight meant so much to him:

“But what I will say is that I think the genre of movies rightfully deserves a lot of criticism for artifice. There’s a lot of CGI, a lot of moments where technology does the heavy lifting. And I think as an audience, we’re starting to crave real and we’re starting to crave tactile.”

According to Liu, the Russo brothers understood exactly what made a matchup like Shang-Chi versus Gambit exciting. Neither hero depends on over-the-top superpowers to win a fight, so they leaned into practical choreography and let the actors do the work themselves.

Liu explained: “So, you know, I was just reading those pages, and I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah. They’re going to let us do our thing.’ … We showed up for the rehearsals, we showed up on the day, and we’re just like, it’s going to be us.

“Like, we’re going to give the stunt double a vacation today. My elbows and everything were completely bruised by the end of it because, you know, his staff is real, my rings are not, and he was going for it.”

Instead of relying on quick edits, stunt doubles, digital doubles, and CGI to sell the impact, Liu and Tatum threw themselves into the choreography and took the hits that came with it. I love that!

It's also a reminder that some of the best Marvel fights have always been the grounded ones. Shang-Chi's martial arts style already delivered some of the MCU's most memorable action scenes, and Gambit's acrobatic staff fighting should make for a perfect opponent.

Marvel is still keeping the reasons behind the clash under wraps, but whatever puts Shang-Chi and Gambit on opposite sides, it sounds like Liu wanted audiences to feel every punch, block, and strike instead of watching another effects-heavy fight scene.

We'll find out exactly how that fight plays out when Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.