‘Shang-Chi’s Simu Liu to Star in Adventure Series ‘Seven Wonders’

Simu Liu in Marvel Studios' 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.' Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021.

Simu Liu has come a long way from his days as a model in stock photos. Since hitting a level of stardom in Canada and beyond in sitcom ‘Kim’s Convenience’, he then took his career to the next level by landing the lead role in Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’.

And he isn’t sitting idly by waiting for the call to go and work on another Marvel movie. He’s been landing roles left right and center and is now looking to get into producing with a new Prime Videoseries called ‘Seven Wonders’.

Ben Mezrich wrote the novel that the series will be based on, and ‘Seven Wonders’ follows Dr. Nate Grady (Liu), a brilliant botanist-adventurer who teams up with the slippery international fixer Sloane Seydoux on a breathless race to solve an ancient mystery tied to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

It all sounds a little like ‘Indiana Jones’ crossed with ‘The Da Vinci Code’ to us, which could be a fun combination.

Producer Beau Flynn, who has worked on movies such as ‘San Andreas’, ‘Rampage’ and this week’s ‘Black Adam’ (he regularly collaborates with Dwayne Johnson), helped develop the book into a series pitch that Amazon quickly snapped up for its Prime Video service. Flynn will produce the show through his Flynn Picture Company outfit.

Justin Lin, who for years made entries in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise (until unexpectedly driving away from it during production of the latest outing this past April), is on board as another executive producer via his Perfect Storm Entertainment company. Lin is also going to direct the series, adding to a resume that also includes ‘Star Trek Beyond’ and ‘Better Luck Tomorrow’.

(L to R) Vin Diesel and director Justin Lin on the set of 'Fast Five.'

He also has extensive experience in TV, having helped guide the likes of ‘S.W.A.T.’ and ‘Magnum PI’ to small screens, directing both shows’ pilots.

Adam Cozad, the screenwriter behind ‘The Legend of Tarzan’ and ‘Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit’ is leading the writing team for the new series. He’s also recently had TV experience thanks to working on Jeff Bridges action drama show ‘The Old Man’.

As for Liu, he’ll be seen opposite Mark Wahlberg in adventure drama ‘Arthur the King’ and has a role in romantic comedy drama ‘One True Loves’.

In the higher profile category, he has an unknown role in the Margot Robbie-starring, Greta Gerwig-directed ‘Barbie’ (potentially as one of the versions of Ken, as the film appears to have the concept of multiple Barbies and Kens).

And on the Marvel front, ‘Shang-Chi’ director Destine Daniel Cretton is developing a sequel to that movie and recently landed the job of making ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ and we’d be surprised if Liu’s character didn’t turn up in at least that Avengers movie, and possibly ‘Secret Wars’, which will follow it a year later.

(L to R) Katy (Awkwafina) and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) in Marvel Studios' 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.' Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021.