SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

Marvel is kung-fu fighting…

DIRECTOR Destin Daniel Cretton

STARRING Simu Liu, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu

In December 2018, Kim’s Convenience star Simu Liu [pictured below] posted a tweet asking Marvel for the title role of what will be the 26th movie in the MCU, and the first to centre on an Asian superhero. And wouldn’t you know it, he got the part, with director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, Just Mercy) saying, “He’s awesome. There’s just an undefined thing… when somebody pops.”

Debuting in Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973), Shang-Chi is a mystical master of kung fu. His appearance was based on Bruce Lee and, in the 1980s, Stan Lee wanted to do a TV show starring Lee’s son Brandon in the role. That didn’t happen, and neither did a movie until now, though Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Stephen Norrington (Blade) were both circling a project in the early 2000s.

Now, finally, Marvel is giving Shang-Chi his moment in the spotlight, and he’ll be going up against arch nemesis The Mandarin (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) – the real one this time, not the fake conjured by Ben Kingsley’s actor Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3. Awkwafina will also appear in an undisclosed role.

“It’s really exciting to me to be able to fill a movie like this with a bunch of Asian faces and be able to see [more] sides of these characters than what we have seen before,” says Cretton. “Growing up, I didn’t have a superhero that looked like me… I couldn’t be more excited.”

Cretton won’t spill any beans other than to say “it’s going to be a really good film”, but MCU fans will recall that the titular terrorist organisation Ten Rings were behind Tony Stark’s kidnapping in the first Iron Man. Don’t be surprised if we now learn they’ve been secretly pulling various strings all along.

ETA I 9 JULY 2021