After numerous delays and postponements, Marvel movies are finally returning to theaters around the world.
Fans were blown away by the arrival of the first Asian superhero to helm a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hit theaters in early September. The film arrived as the second MCU film—after Black Widow—to be released to theaters during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The year’s third MCU release, Eternals, hit theaters just days ago, to mixed reviews.
Despite some complaints of an overstuffed cast and somewhat clunky storytelling methods, Marvel fans have been delighted by Eternals. A few of the immortal, god-like beings are more popular than others, however, with Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo becoming an instant crowd favorite. The character serves as the comedic relief through much of the film’s 2-hour, 37-minute runtime, and Nanjiani’s flawless portrayal helped him to become a new front runner in many viewers’ Marvel lineups.
Fans of the newly minted MCU characters were thus utterly delighted to see their actors exchange encouraging words on social media. Following the release of Eternals, Simu Liu, the actor who portrayed Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings gave the cast a shout out. He took to Twitter to retweet a trailer shared by Marvel Studios’ official account, which was announcing that Eternals became the “#1 MOVIE IN THE WORLD” over the weekend.
In response, Liu shared the trailer and attached his congratulations to the cast and crew. “Proud of these guys,” he wrote. “Congrats to @gemma_chan, @kumailn and the incredibly talented cast and crew of #Eternals!”
After spotting Liu’s tweet on his timeline, Nanjiani had his own response. He commented on the Kim’s Convenience star’s post with a sweet and relatable “Thanks bud” before proposing a team up that Marvel fans would absolutely die for. “Kingo, Shang Chi team up?”
The tweet was clearly sent in playful humor, but that didn’t stop fans from dreaming up a future film starring the cherished actors. Responses to the Twitter exchange see numerous people pitching ideas for a future Shang-Chi/Kingo team up, with suggestions like “Only if both of you do a Bollywood dance segment together” littering the comment section.
The Marvel duo didn’t end their charming Twitter exchange there, either. Liu responded to Nanjiani’s proposal with a simple caveat: “Just keep those fingers pointed away from me.” This is a reference to Kingo’s powers in Eternals, which include the ability to shoot cosmic beams out of his fingers and eyes. Nanjiani’s retort also called back to Liu’s abilities as Shang-Chi, noting that “Long as you do the same with your rings, we’ve got a deal my friend.”
In proper meme-king fashion, Liu concluded the exchange with a well-known gif. Taken from the 1987 film Predator, the moment shows as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers approach one another before engaging in a thoroughly masculine—and very vascular—handshake. The resulting image, which has been dubbed the “Epic Handshake” by KnowYourMeme, served as the perfect sign off for Liu.
