Shang-Chi Has Me Hyped

Howdy folks, at the time of writing this, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is having its world premiere and I am very excited for this movie. As it stands this and Spider-Man: No Way Home are my most anticipated MCU movies for Phase 4. There’s a few reasons as to why I’m excited and I’ll name a few. Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the Mandarin, and the introduction of the character to the larger MCU.

Before the announcement of the casting and the movie, I had never heard of Shang-Chi, nor Simu Liu, the actor playing him. Obviously once it was announced I had to do my research on both the character and the actor. Simu Liu is a Canadian actor, writer and stuntman known for his role as Jung Kim in Kim’s Convenience (which is a pretty good show, check it out on Netflix). That’s pretty much it. Liu has been in the background of TV shows and movies that you’ve definitely heard of before (Pacific Rim, Warehouse 13) but he was never the featured player until Kim’s Convenience aired. Even still he really isn’t the main character in Kim’s Convenience, he’s part of an ensemble cast but he still shines whenever he’s on screen. As for the character he’s playing, I’m learning more about him everyday. From what I can tell you, that dude is cold. Shang-Chi is the best fighter in the Marvel Universe and it isn’t even close. Where other fighters in the Marvel Universe have powers, Shang has no powers. He isn’t called the Master of Kung-Fu for nothing. He briefly had the power of duplication after being exposed to cosmic radiation and he’s used other powers on occasion such as Pym Particles and Kitty Pryde’s power of intangibility. Outside of those brief instances with powers, Shang has largely gone powerless for most of his existence. Even the god of war himself acknowledged him as one of the few mortals that can hold their own against a god without magic. Dude is like that for real.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the Mandarin is another reason I’m excited for this flick. Tony Leung Chiu-wai is considered to be one of Asia’s most famous and internationally recognizable stars. Leung has been active since the 80s but has never starred in a Hollywood film before Shang-Chi. Think about that for a second. One of Asia’s most famous actors and his first Hollywood film isn’t a collaboration with a famous Oscar winning director (although he has collaborated with Ang Lee before) in some serious, Oscar worthy movie. No, his first role is a supervillain in the MCU. Kevin Feige is truly a genius. I’m very excited to see his take on the Mandarin, a character that has a history rooted in racism. Leung has said before that he would never take a Hollywood role that degraded Asian people, so I am confident that he will bring his A-game to this character.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters September 3rd.