Fandoms Collide, As MCU Star Simu Liu Shares The Harry Potter Question That Has Him (And Many Fans) Stumped

Simu Liu as Shang-Chi on San Francisco bus in Legend of the Ten Rings action sequence.
(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Whether you’re a dedicated part of the Harry Potter fandom or not, there’s a good chance that if you’ve read the books or seen the movies you have a few unanswered questions about the series stored in the back of your mind. The good news is, you’re not alone  – Simu Liu, of Shang-Chi and Legend of the Ten Rings fame, recently admitted to fans that there’s something that has always stumped him about the Potterverse. 

Since HBO Max’s Harry Potter Return to Hogwarts recently debuted, fans have been discussing the highlights of the special and the cinematic series as a whole. Leave it to Simu Liu, an undisputed master of Twitter, to enter the conversation and ask his own long-simmering unanswered question:

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Rubeus Hagrid is one of the most beloved Wizarding World characters. Many memorable moments in the series feature the gamekeeper with a heart of gold towering over Hogwarts students, as he guides them toward magical moments. Fans have been especially in their feelings about Hagrid since Robbie Coltrane, the actor who played him, made a heart-wrenching observation in Return To Hogwarts. So it makes sense why he was on the Marvel star's mind. 

We know a lot about the character's backstory, including how he ended up as a permanent fixture at the legendary wizarding school. But the origins of his birth are a bit confusing. He was born to a giant mother and a wizard father. When you think about it, it is a little bit difficult to imagine how that worked out on a technical level (though you may not want to imagine it at all).  

Whether you’d rather remain blissfully unaware as to how exactly Hagrid’s parents got down or not, one Twitter user did propose a potential explanation. Here's what they had to say:

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So there is at least one way Hagrid could have been conceived, which means Simu Liu and anyone else who ever wondered can now rest a little easier in knowing his very existence wasn’t a big plot hole. Now, I can’t help but wonder exactly how big of a Potterhead Liu is – the fact that he’s a half-giant is a detail that the average muggle has picked up on, and it may have even slipped by some casual readers or viewers. 

But maybe he’s a well-rounded pop culture aficionado. We already know his meme game is strong. And this isn’t the first time he’s tweeted something that reaches out across fandoms – when he announced that Shang-Chi was streaming on Disney+ last year, he made a funny reference to rumors about Spider-Man: No Way Home casting

If Liu is a big Potter fan, maybe he could negotiate a cameo in a future movie. That is, if he’s not too busy shooting the Shang-Chi sequel. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is currently available on HBO Max

Katherine Webb