Shang high time
The master of Kung Fu will be taking the spotlight in marvel Cinematic universe’s first asian-led film – Shang-chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings.
CAN’T imagine a successful Kung Fu movie without Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Donnie Yen in the lead role? Well, what about a kung fu movie starring the guy from Kim’s Convenience?
It’s safe to say that Simu Lui was not exactly everyone’s first choice for the lead role in Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Asian-led film – Shang-chi And The Legend Of Ten Rings, due out 2021.
Then again, Marvel Studios has a past record of left-field choices that have worked out just fine (former Johnny Storm Chris Evans as Captain America, anyone?), so it might eventually work out just fine.
Anyway, Shang-chi’s mastery of kung fu may seem a bit too down to Earth compared to the space-faring, superpowered fare Marvel has been dishing out of late.
But with next year’s Black Widow movie as well as a Disney+ Hawkeye series coming out soon, non-powered superheroes may just be the next big thing.
So, let’s find out more about this man they call the Master of Kung Fu, shall we?
Chop-socky origins
Inspired by the 70s Kung Fu Tv-series (starring the late David Carradine), Marvel wanted to adapt it into comic book form, but were foiled by the show’s owner – Warner Communications (who “coincidentally” owns DC
Comics).
Hence, the next best way for Marvel to venture into the kung fu world was by acquiring the rights to Sax Rohmer’s pulp villian – Dr Fu Manchu.
Fortunately Marvel’s primary interest wasn’t on the evil tyrant, but his “unknown son” – ShangChi!
Using the well-trodden ‘there is good in evil’ trope, Marvel cast Shang-chi as the prodigal son turning on his father and foiling his plans for world domination.
However, the connection to Fu was downplayed after Marvel lost the comic book rights to the character – which explains the (re)introduction of the (real) Mandarin in the upcoming movie.
While I have no doubts about Tony Leung Chui Wai’s (who will play the Mandarin) acting skills and martial arts prowess (well, he did play Ip Man before), Lui will really need to up his game (and not just via his Twitter account) the next few months to assure comic fans that he is not just a shrimp cracker chewing fanboy, but a bona fide Master of Kung Fu!
The Thanos link
While Shang-chi never held or owned any of the Infinity Gems, he does share one common trait with Thanos – they both came from the same creative gene pool.
Co-created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin (who created Thanos and Mar-vell, the original Captain Marvel), Shang-chi’s comic book debut came in the pages of Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973).
Unlike Thanos and Mar-vell, who were endowed with cosmic powers – Starlin “gifted” Shang-chi with biceps and triceps gained from years of martial arts training.
Unfortunately, Starlin also gave Shang-chi really bad fashion sense, with that red martial arts robe, which thankfully has since been discarded.
What’s in a name?
According to Wikipedia, the name Shangchi means ‘rising of the spirit’ , which personifies his never-ending battle against his father’s nefarious schemes.
Well, Google translator did not exist in the 70s and recently Australian-malaysian actor and comedian, Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians) took to Twitter to suggest changing Shang-chi’s name to Shen Qi instead.
According to Chieng, the Chinese charac‘shang ters for chi’ actually literally translate to “Upper Air” rather than “rising spirit”.
On the other hand the Chinese character “shen qi” can mean miraculous”, and also sounds the same as the hero’s English version name.
Don’t call him Chinaman
The character’s origins has already been a subject of controversy, as Fu Manchu is condemeaning sidered an stereotype of Chinese people. Add to that the fact that Shang-chi’s long-time buddy Black Jack Tarr used to call him ‘Chinaman’ quite derogatorily, we could do with this sort of ‘banter’ in the movie.
Don’t call him Bruce either When Paul Gulacy took over the art duties (Master Of Kung Fu Vol. 1), he not only made Shang-chi’s moves more wushu-esque, but also gradually remodeled his image into that of Bruce Lee’s!
Kung-power
Having spent his entire childhood training to be a livweapon, ing Shang-chi has masforms tered all of martial arts.
To supplement his physical training, his father exposed him to alchemy and virtual reality to make him the ultimate assassin.
After his first assignment, however, Shangabout Chi learned his father’s evil ways and turned against him by joining forces with his father’s enemies – Sir Denis Nayland Smith and his allies.
For decades, Shang-chi carved a niche for himself as a Kung Fu master and has collaborated with the likes of Iron Fist, Daredevil, Black Widow, etc.
The greatest compliment on his ability and prowess came from the Black Panther, who thinks that Shang-chi is an even better fightfist. er than Iron Spider trainer
Even so, he was restricted to being a B-grade superhero until he received a boost when Spider-man asked to train him in martial arts in order to compensate for the loss of his spider-sense during the Spider Island event.
But what happened next really opened the floodgates – after the shattering events of Avengers vs X-men, Shang-chi was among Captain America’s first pick for a new Avengers team. This led to high profile missions on Mars, interviewing the new Captain Universe (!), being part of a Galactic Council that took on Thanos (!!) ... and transforming into a giant (courtesy of Pym Particles) to defeat a dragon (!!!).
These were indeed signs that Marvel saw Shang-chi’s true potential and they even gave him the power to self-duplicate (ala Jamie Madrox The Multiple Man) during the Time Runs Out event (Avengers (vol.5) #38).
Teaming up
Recent events may have seen Shang-chi playing in the big leagues, but his true nature really shone during his pioneer adventures with the trio of Clive Reston, Leiko Wu and Black Jack Tarr.
No Shang-chi adventure would be complete without them, especially Wu, who has been Shang-chi’s love interest as well as forbidden love, after her marriage to Clive Reston. With Awkwafina’s role in the upcoming movie unrevealed, here’s hoping that she’s cast as Fah Lo Suee (Shang-chi’s sister) instead of Wu!