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SHANG-CHI from Marvel Studios Announced at #SDCC2019


The first film releasing in 2021 on February 12th, is SHANG-CHI and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Introduced at the MARVEL Comic-Con Panel in Hall H at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con as part of Marvel's "Phase 4" projects.

- "The Mandarin" will be played by Tony Leung.
- Awkwafina will star.
- Director Destin Daniel Cretton was introduced, and he spoke about his heritage and how he appreciated Marvel providing diversity in film.
- Harbin-born Canadian actor Simu Liu - who plays "Shang-Chi" was introduced on stage, where he introduced himself in Mandarin! He subsequently paid homage to his parents and made fun of typical Asian stereotypes.



If "Crazy Rich Asians" had "opened up the market for the viability for an all-Asian-cast in a Hollywood movie", then this would be the boon for viewers such as myself. For sure somewhere along the process, there will be tons of detractors and accusations of "misappropriation" (understandably so), but personally as a Asian-middle aged man, who had already surrounded himself with a myriad of Asian actors and martial artists on film and television (from Jet Li to Donnie Yen in modern cinema. not counting the Shaw era of kung-fu classics), I perhaps would be more "intrigued" in what will come and be presented, than expect it to represent something else other than "entertainment" :)

Besides the apparent online anger over the usage of "The Mandarin" in what used to be a 70's villain to "Iron Man" which focused on "anti-Chinese" sentiments/origins, with excruciatingly blatant racial-profiling from the West, I am "sure" Marvel/Disney would know what needs to be done to placate an sensitivities (Let's not go into the live-action "Mulan" yet), to earn your bucks, innit? We shall see...


The existence of "Shang-Chi" always gave me pause, especially when folks used to go on about "Iron Fist", and about "Danny Rand" not being the ultimate pugilist, because quite simply, he does not possess that title (not in the comic books anyway), because that has always been the domain of Shang-Chi... but it certainly made for more interesting costume options, which the character Shang-Chi always seemed to fail in - be it the faux ing-fu pajamas or the unremarkable skin-tight suits LOL ... in his case, "spandex" works so much better to maneuver in, than "leather" tho :p

And if you have not figured it out by now, the comicbook Shang-Chi was modelled after "Bruce Lee" :)



WHO-IS (comicbookdb.com):

Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu (Marvel)
Real Name: Shang-Chi

Powers: He has no special superpowers, but he exhibits extraordinary skills in the martial arts and is well-versed in the use of numerous hand-held martial-arts weapons -- including the staff, nunchaku and double-edged sword.

Bio: He was named by his mother and it means "the rising and advancing of the spirit".

Notes: Created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin. Was first referred to as "The Rising of the Spirits" in Wolverine #8 (2014).

First Appearance: Special Marvel Edition (1971) #15

In the comicbooks I remembered, Shang-Chi had no "super-human powers" except for his skill in kung-fu. But in apparent later comic-stories "Following exposure to the cosmic radiation from the Incursions, Shang-Chi was able to create an unlimited number of duplicates of himself." (Wiki) ... perhaps having one "Multiple Man" in the Marvel Universe is not good enough :p

FANART Found Online:


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