New TV spy series stars a familiar face from Mississauga

One of Mississauga native and Hollywood action star Simu Liu’s latest on-screen projects brought him close to home.

The 36-year-old Liu, who quickly vaulted into superstardom thanks to the 2021 Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and two years later starred in the summer 2023 blockbuster Barbie movie, stars in the new TV science fiction spy thriller series The Copenhagen Test.

The American-created series, which premiered Dec. 27 on Peacock and began airing in Canada earlier this week on Showcase, was filmed in Toronto from late 2024 into early 2025.

The espionage show stars Liu as a Chinese-American intelligence analyst whose brain has been hacked, allowing access to his senses. He’s subsequently caught between his shadowy agency and unknown hackers as he tries to line up the culprits and prove his allegiance.

The Copenhagen Test also stars Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, Brian d’Arcy James, Mark O’Brien and Kathleen Chalfant.

Top movie and TV roles have kept coming for Liu since he made it big some five years ago. In early 2025, it was announced the Canadian had been cast in Avengers: Doomsday, next up in the wildly popular Avengers superhero franchise.

THIS IS INSAAAANE pic.twitter.com/8tP2p0dlx5

— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 8, 2026

It’s the fifth film in the Avengers series, also developed by Marvel, and Liu will once again play the familiar role of Shang-Chi.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release in December with its followup, Avengers: Secret Wars, due out sometime in 2027.

The four Avengers films to date are the third-highest grossing superhero franchise and the sixth-highest film franchise of all time, grossing more than US$7.7 billion. The first in the series, The Avengers, came out in 2012 while Avengers: Endgame, the fourth and most recent, premiered in 2019.

Meanwhile, the much-anticipated sequel to Marvel’s 2021 mega-hit Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is expected to hit theatres sometime in the next year or two. 

Liu won a 2022 People’s Choice Award in the “Action Movie Star” category for his leading role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.