John Boyega and Simu Liu have fans speculating after an intriguing exchange on X, seemingly teasing their return to their respective franchises: Marvel and Star Wars.
MCU fans have been waiting for Shang-Chi 2 for years, and there are rumors that the Ten Rings wielder himself will be one of the leads in the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.
As for Boyega, he was last seen in 2019's The Rise of Skywalker, with no news of his return to the galaxy far, far away, aside from Daisy Ridley’s hope to see him reprise his role as Finn in her new Star Wars movie.
So, does their fun social media banter mean anything?
John Boyega and Simu Liu Seemingly Hint at Each Other’s Return to the MCU and Star Wars
The speculations began after Liu shared a shirtless image of himself on X. While many may see it as a thirst trap, thanks to his impressive abdominal muscles, his caption caught fans' interest.
“Prepping,” he wrote, accompanied by a pair of eyes emoji.
As expected, it didn't take long for his post to escalate, especially after Boyega left a GIF of Shang-Chi in action from Liu’s 2021 movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in the comments section.
Liu didn’t let it slide and responded to Boyega with a GIF of Finn holding his lightsaber in front of Maz Kanata from J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens.
Though the battle of GIFs ended there, the They Cloned Tyrone star left three smirking emojis in response to Liu.
Sure, the actors didn’t write a word, but their back-and-forth was enough to excite both MCU and Star Wars fans.
"By the looks of it, Boyega seems to know that Liu will soon return as Shang-Chi in the much-awaited Shang-Chi 2.
With his caption, “prepping,” Liu may be preparing for his big comeback, especially since Avengers: Doomsday is set to start production in March 2025.
Liu is expected to make a cameo in the first Avengers movie before becoming a key player in The Kang Dynasty.
On the other hand, the Canadian actor seemingly teases Boyega’s return as Finn in the Star Wars universe.
While there is no confirmation if Boyega will reprise his role in Lucasfilm’s franchise, especially after he called The Last Jedi the “worst Star Wars movie,” Daisy Ridley has expressed interest in having him back for her new Star Wars film.
“Absolutely, of course. It feels like we should, yeah,” she told The Hollywood Reporter when asked if Boyega would appear in her yet-to-be-titled Star Wars movie, which is set after The Rise of Skywalker.
Boyega played Finn in the sequel trilogy but was openly disappointed with the experience, claiming that his character, as a Black man, was sidelined in favor of the white characters.
“They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley,” he told GQ Magazine in 2020. “Let's be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I'm not exposing anything.”
Despite that though, he told Tech Radarin July that he was open to coming back and “to all opportunities.”
“[The comments I made were] a few years ago, so they were the subject of that particular project,” he explained. “But I'm open to all characters and scripts that are enjoyable, have a great cast attached, and a terrific director. So yeah, I'm open to all opportunities.”
So, whatever the case may be, it looks like Boyega and Liu are well aware of each other’s next big projects, and only time will tell if they will appear in new MCU and Star Wars films.