How MCU's Abomination Is Different In Shang-Chi | Screen Rant
The Abomination returns to the MCU through Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings but with a more evolved look since his last appearance. While there have not been any Hulk movies since 2008's The Incredible Hulk with Ed Norton, that has not stopped the MCU from using those characters over the years. As Mark Ruffalo has taken over the role of Bruce Banner, William Hurt's Thunderbolt Ross has also made it back in recent films. One of the major players who hasn't returned, though, since The Incredible Hulk is Emil Blonsky, a.k.a. Abomination.
While Tim Roth's villainous beast is set to make a comeback in She-Hulk, fans will be seeing him sooner than expected. The second trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ended with a brief but prominent scene featuring the Abomination, who had not been previously announced to be showing up in the Phase 4 film. As Shang-Chi and Katy are observing the underground fighting tournament, Abomination is duking it out with what appears to be Doctor Strange's Wong. It's unclear, so far, if Roth is doing any motion-capture performance as Abomination in the movie, or if a stunt actor is playing Abomination in just this one scene, thus setting the stage for Roth's return in She-Hulk.
However, the Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings trailer did make it clear that Abomination doesn't look exactly the same as he did in The Incredible Hulk. Given that it has been more than 10 years since the last Hulk movie released, it's only natural that he's changed. Visually, Abomination looks more comic accurate than he did in The Incredible Hulk. While Abomination is maintaining the same size, his facial features have evolved the most since 2008. The last time fans saw Abomination, Emil had just transformed into the beast, but he has mutated even further based on the trailer.
Something the MCU was missing from the villain's comic counterpart was his finned ears. Thanks to his Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings appearance, those have now been added to make him look more faithful to the source material. Even though Emil is a mutated human, his 2008 design still had his face look a little too human, especially the mouth area. The trailer's quick shots make Abomination look a lot more balanced than how he appeared in The Incredible Hulk. Despite already having bony protrusions, the trailer makes it seem like they have grown a bit since 2008. Whether or not they will actually address his changes in Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings remains to be seen.
If Abomination is only set to have a cameo in the film, it would make sense if the She-Hulk show ends up explaining the visual make-over. While it goes without saying that Abomination looks a lot better here than he did in The Incredible Hulk, it's worth remembering that VFX technology has come a long way since when the MCU first started. Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings have the benefits of being produced with far more advanced technology that simply didn't exist when Abomination debuted in the MCU. Either way, it will be intriguing to see what Abomination's role will actually be in Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings before heading over to She-Hulk on Disney+.