Marvel’s revelation that “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is one of their upcoming films wasn’t one of their bigger shocks at SDCC this past weekend. However, it was fascinating to be introduced to Simu Liu, the man who will become the master of Kung-Fu. We also met Tony Leung, who will be portraying the real Mandarin that I guessed might be showing up in this film a little while back. However, I couldn’t guess who would take on the mantle, and Leung looks like a wonderful choice, being a renowned actor in Asia for his long body of work. We’ve also got Awkwafina cast, though we don’t know her role in the film yet. So, with so little information about other characters or actual plot, here’s five things we’ve got to see in Shang-Chi to make it a huge film.
A Faithful Origin!
While Shang-Chi’s original origin story features the legendary Chinese character Fu Manchu as his father. This was not a particularly good thing, as Fu Manchu was an incredibly racist caricature and didn’t provide the kind of image Marvel would want to show on-screen today, much like they wouldn’t want to showcase the original Mandarin in the form he was portrayed in the early Marvel Comics. However, mashing these together with Tony Leung, making Shang-Chi the son of the Mandarin that betrays his father to become a hero. That’s a great plot for this movie and is something we’ve not really seen explored in such a way in any previous MCU film.
The Right Supporting Characters!
Marvel has proven with these initial casting choices that they are staying true to the Asian origins of these characters. However, bringing the right characters from Marvel Comics in to join Shang-Chi and Mandarin is important. In my mind, Awkwafina could be playing Shang-Chi’s half-sister Fah Lo Suee. She abandoned their father only to lead her own section of the Si-Fan group, and she tried to convince Shang-Chi to join her in defeating Fu Manchu and taking over his organization at various times. This would be a fascinating thing to explore in the film, alternatively, she could play Leiko Wu, a Chinese-British MI6 agent that worked with Shang-Chi at various times in the comics, and was also an occasional love interest for him. Both of these roles are strong female characters that Awkwafina would be well suited for.
Setup For The Future!
With Black Widow taking place before Avengers: Infinity War, and Eternals potentially taking place on Earth but possibly not dealing as directly with humanity as more “regular” earth-bound heroes would, this film will be the first film in phase 4 to really deal with what the world is like now. It doesn’t have to do much to show us, but all of these films are interconnected and Shang-Chi needs to make it clear that it is a part of that by teasing what is happening elsewhere, are the Avengers together? How are the governments of the world recuperating from the blip? Also, I think if Shang-Chi looks to become its own franchise then killing Mandarin would be a bad idea, he’s too big a villain for a one-off and could easily return to later menace Shang-Chi and other Marvel heroes as well.
Start Something New!
This really is a new corner of the MCU to explore, but Shang-Chi has a varied history with many teams in the comics, so I think it’s time to introduce another team into the universe, one potentially made up of lesser heroes who aren’t being utilized right now. Shang-Chi does have a storied history with Heroes For Hire, a group that has included in the past Luke Cage (available), Iron Fist (available), Thena (about to be introduced in Eternals), She-Hulk (ready for a big-screen debut surely), White Tiger (a common ally of Shang-Chi who could appear in his film), Ghost Rider (available), Punisher (available) and many more. Why not take the Netflix stars cut adrift and give them a leader in Shang-Chi, and a return on a Disney+ series down the line? Alternatively, just some tease that Shang-Chi could be joining some newly reformed team of Avengers would be great, we just need to know, as this is the only definite Earthbound phase 4 film, that there’s a future for big team-ups in this Universe.
A Cultural Phenomenon!
It feels wrong to simply call this film the “Asian Black Panther” but culturally, it needs to be that. Draw in that audience, who until now must feel under-represented in this universe, and allow them to celebrate their culture through Shang-Chi, as a hero and as a film. Black Panther showcased more than just a black man leading a superhero film, it dealt with the kinds of issues we see in modern-day Africa, and Shang-Chi can easily do the same with modern-day Asia. It’ll be interesting to see how that is handled, but I’m looking forward to seeing director Destin Daniel Cretton handles this huge task.
That’s just a few of the many things I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but what else do you want to see? Let me know in the comments and check out more articles on Marvel’s big phase four announcements on Viral Hare!
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