Marvel concept artist confirms Deadpool was never set to appear in ‘Shang-Chi’

Yesterday, concept art from Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings surfaced online depicting Deadpool taking on Proxima Midnight. But now, the man behind the art, Andrew Kim, has clarified that there were never any plans for Deadpool to show up in the film.

Given his appearance in official concept art, the rumor mill began to turn that there was once a plan for Ryan Reynolds to make his MCU debut back in 2021’s film, but in an interview with Chatter Box Film, Kim explained how the art actually came to be.

“Well, long story short, sorry to disappoint you but there was no involvement of Deadpool or Proxima in the early going. When I was designing the fight club, my PD (production designer) mentioned to me that we could see other Marvel characters fighting in the ring when we first revealed the scene. 

“Deadpool and Proxima was my idea to put in as I thought their dynamic fighting styles could be a perfect fit in the ring like that (you know, they don’t fly…haha) And Deadpool’s red was a nice pop against the bluish background.”

This explanation makes more sense as it would seem Deadpool would make his MCU debut in a larger role, not to mention the fact that Proxima Midnight is currently deceased in the main MCU timeline, which would cause all kinds of continuity errors.

While the art may not be depicting anything that could have been, it is still a badass look at two of Marvel’s most violent characters going head-to-head.