Experience it on theaters and in Disney + streaming September 3
As you probably know by now, Marvel’s released the first teaser for the Shang-Chi MCU movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
As an old (40+) who got into the original run of Master of Kung Fu a decade or more after its cancellation, I’m not the hippest source of new info on this movie or its production. I am, however, extremely hype about what the teaser promises.
Some quick takeaways:
No Fu Manchu. No surprise there - it’d be hard to think of a more problematic character to saddle a movie with in 2021.
But, as the replacement mastermind we have: Tony Leung! A favorite of mine since Hard Boiled. He’s an amazing performer who I’m more used to seeing in heroic roles, but I know he has the presence to be a worthy foil for our hero.
I think he’s meant to be the “real’ Mandarin hinted at in the Iron Man series? Will he have alien-tech rings? Are they related to the glowy armbands? I recall Shang having something like that in the Hickman Avengers series.
Simu Liu be doing push ups. And Shang’s a valet! I wonder if this is a sly reference to Kato from the Green Hornet? I.E. The Asian sidekick who follows the white hero around rather than take the driver seat himself.
I’m interested to see how they handle the change from the ‘70s UK focus of the comics to a more grounded modern American backdrop. Looks like they’re in San Francisco for at least some of the story, which makes sense given the size and history of the Asian community there.
The costume for the masked ninja(s) are pretty Si Fan looking; they have that wild Asian pastiche baroque aesthetic I associate with the ‘70s comic series.
No signs of Leiko Wu, Blackjack, or the other old school supporting cast. Given the pivot to the USA, I’m mostly okay with it - but I do have to admit I miss seeing some of that groovy spy nonsense.
Awkwafina is Shang’s stateside buddy, apparently. I have to admit I’ve not seen her in anything, but I do know she’s showing up in a lot of things. Not sure who the guy with the spiky hair is - another work friend of Shang’s?
There’s some Big CGI Battles implied in some of the cutaways - are they flashbacks? While they discarded the Manchu stuff I wonder if Leung’s villain has been around for a long time. In any case, I gotta admit - I would have preferred to see more practical long-shot martial arts sequences, but I realize they need to play up the fantasy spectacle for an MCU audience now used to the idea of talking racoons and cosmos spanning wars.
In any case, no real shockers but a good sense of style and the voice they’re giving the franchise.
Its genuinely heartening to see an Asian superhero make their entrance into the mainstream consciousness. The fact that its Shang-Chi is just a bonus.
