An intriguing character from Marvel comics catalogue will be getting his very first solo
movie vehicle in 2021: Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu.
Who is Shang-Chi, and how did he come to be the master of kung-fu, and what is his place
within the world of Marvel Comics?
We're here to break down the details for you.
You may be aware that in the early 1970s, everybody was kung fu fighting.
Or at least they wanted to be.
This was largely thanks to Bruce Lee, who had been exposed to American audiences via
the television series The Green Hornet and with starring roles in films including Game
of Death and the posthumously-released Enter the Dragon, which kicked open the door for
future superstars like Jackie Chan.
The TV series Kung Fu, which starred actor David Carradine, is said to have originally
been developed for Bruce Lee.
Marvel hoped to adapt the series to cash in on the martial arts craze.
But the House of Ideas was unable to obtain the rights...
"As quickly as you can, snatch the pebble from my hand."
so then-Marvel Publisher Stan Lee turned to creators Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin to
come up with an original kung fu-based property.
The character they created would go on to become a Marvel mainstay.
In the late '80s, long before Marvel came to dominate the box office, Stan Lee attempted
to get a Shang-Chi movie off the ground starring Brandon Lee, Bruce's son.
It never materialized.
Not everyone was convinced that Master of Kung Fu would be an instant hit, so Marvel
introduced the character in a dead-end book with the clunky title of Special Marvel Edition,
which had up to that point published 14 issues of reprints of older Marvel stories.
Much like Spider-Man, who first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, Shang-Chi debuted in
the pages of Special Marvel Edition #15, published in December 1973.
The public quickly took notice.
It took only two issues for the book's former title to be dropped.
It was renamed Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu for the remainder of its run, which
lasted until 1983.
Shang-Chi enjoyed a respectable level of popularity throughout the '70s, making guest appearances
in several of Marvel's flagship books and interacting with some of its most high-profile
characters.
Despite this success, it was, as they say, a different time, and some elements of the
character's backstory were more than a little questionable.
Chief among these problems was Shang-Chi's lineage.
In his very first appearance, he was presented as the son of the evil Fu Manchu, an overtly
racist supervillain who had appeared in pulp novels and movies throughout the 20th Century.
The character was among the most popular of the so-called "Yellow Peril" villains, which
spawned a number of devious, heartless Asian evildoers such as Flash Gordon archvillain
Ming the Merciless and the Batman villain Ra's Al Ghul.
Marvel obtained the rights from Fu Manchu's creator, British novelist Sax Rohmer, and
while their characterization was a touch more dignified, many Asian readers nevertheless
found the character to represent a demonization of their culture.
In his original origin, Shang-Chi was raised by his father to be the ultimate assassin,
but quickly came to reject Fu Manchu's evil ways.
Over the years, the two would clash repeatedly.
In later years, the identity of the hero's father would be retconned to actually be the
immortal sorcerer Zheng Zhu, who for decades had simply been using "Fu Manchu" as an alias.
But this was largely due to the rights reverting back to Rohmer's estate rather than a desire
to rehab the character.
Like many of Marvel's heroes, Shang-Chi technically doesn't have any superpowers.
He was molded by his father into the ultimate weapon, a master practitioner of all forms
of Chinese martial arts.
Not only does this mean that he's an absurdly skilled fighter, it also means that he has
a level of control over his body that few characters in the Marvel Universe can match.
He's able to regulate a number of supposedly involuntary bodily functions.
For example, he can reduce the function of his nerves to the extent that he's practically
impervious to pain, and can even slow down the rate at which he bleeds.
He also has a master's knowledge of pressure points, enabling him to take down opponents
with a single strike, and is known to unleash a bone-rattling flying kick which packs an
unbelievable amount of force behind it.
Like Captain America, he's said to represent the peak of human strength, power and agility.
He does, however, boast one skill specific to only the most skilled of martial artists,
one that raises his abilities to a level slightly beyond those of fellow non-powered heroes.
Shang-Chi has the ability to focus his chi, the spiritual energy or "life force" inherent
to all living things.
In real-world martial arts, this practice is used mainly in meditation and as a way
of controlling one's fear and anger.
In the Marvel universe, the ability can be honed into a weapon, and Shang-Chi uses it
to augment his skills to devastating effect.
He can temporarily boost his strength and endurance beyond even peak human levels, dodge
or deflect bullets, and control his body's reaction to poison or drugs.
Because of these abilities and his utter mastery of an array of deadly fighting styles, Shang-Chi
is often considered to be the greatest unarmed combatant in the entire Marvel universe; he
was deemed by no less an authority than Black Panther to be an even more formidable fighter
than the superpowered Iron Fist.
His mastery over his chi has even received a technological boost.
At times, he uses a special pair of nunchucks designed by Tony Stark, which can accumulate
and disperse Shang-Chi's spiritual energy, unleashing deadly concussive blasts.
Shang-Chi's interactions with other Marvel heroes have been frequent, but one of his
wilder team-ups was with an unlikely band of New York-based heroes.
It started with an investigation into the bizarre slaughter of an entire faction of
Brooklyn mafia members.
Daredevil discovered it was the work of Ulik, a rock troll hailing from Asgard's underworld
who had come to Earth in search of a mystical horn.
Daredevil enlisted the aid of Shang-Chi, Black Widow, a Cloak-less Dagger, and the Punisher
to form the "Marvel Knights" and deal with Ulik and his minions.
Afterwards, the rest of the group became determined to bring the Punisher — whose methods they
found to be unsavory — to justice.
They were joined in this dangerous endeavor by Moon Knight, but the revamped group's efforts
were interrupted by Cloak, who was in the psychological clutches of the demon Nightmare
and was on a misguided rampage to consume all evildoers.
After consuming the Punisher, Daredevil, Black Widow, and Moon Knight, Cloak was halted by
Doctor Strange, whom Dagger had brought in to assist before things got truly out of hand.
By the end of the series, the Punisher was still punishing away.
Shang-Chi has occasionally been called upon to train other heroes in hand-to-hand combat,
including your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler.
During the "Revenge of the Spider-Slayer" story arc, Spider-Man realized that the villain
Alistair Smythe had found a way to imbue his Spider-Slayer robots with a version of his
spider-sense.
He created a device to disrupt the ability, but was forced to set it off manually, deactivating
his own spider-sense in the process.
This caused some difficulty in the subsequent "Spider Island" event, during which thousands
of heroes, villains, and ordinary citizens alike developed spider-powers.
On the recommendation of Madame Web, Spidey went to Shang-Chi for training.
He created a completely new martial arts style intended to complement Spider-Man's powers,
which he called "The Way of the Spider."
Spider-Man became an even more dangerous fighter than he already was, using his newfound martial
arts prowess to take down opponents as powerful and skilled as Spider-Woman and even Shang-Chi
himself.
Shang-Chi has at times been imparted with superhuman abilities.
During the aforementioned "Spider Island" event, he was one of the many temporarily
granted the same powers as Spider-Man, a scary notion if ever there was one.
He used these powers to help dispatch the threat of the spider-powered supervillains
running roughshod over New York City.
In another incident, Shang-Chi was dispatched with other Avengers to the fictional island
of Madripoor to deal with an ancient dragon which had been awakened from its slumber underneath
the island.
Using Pym Particles, Shang-Chi enlarged himself to match the dragon's Godzilla-like stature,
and promptly defeated it in combat.
In a more recent incident, Shang-Chi volunteered to investigate the city of Kobe, Japan after
it was struck with the evolution-speeding Origin Bomb by the godlike entity known as
Ex Nihilo.
While others had been absorbed by the "genesis matter" which was a by-product of the bombing,
Shang-Chi was able to commune with it, and in the process gained the ability to produce
an unknown number of duplicates of himself, each one with the original's memories and
abilities.
It's unknown whether he still possesses this power.
Back in 2006, when Marvel first announced its intention to start Marvel Studios and
produce a slate of films featuring some of its lesser-known characters, virtually no
one was thinking that the endeavor would result in the single highest-grossing film franchise
of all time.
"Avengers!
Assemble."
The rights to Marvel's most famous properties, namely Spider-Man and the X-Men, were held
by Sony and Fox respectively, both of which had created successful film franchises.
Marvel seemed to be coming late to the party, with a stable of characters that included,
in the order they were announced: Captain America, The Avengers, Nick Fury, Black Panther,
Ant-Man, Cloak & Dagger, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Power Pack, and Shang-Chi.
Marvel Studios would, of course, go on to elevate many of these properties to household
name status, although some took considerably longer to develop than others.
Ant-Man took a full nine years to reach the big screen, and the pre-teen Power Pack have
yet to get its time in the spotlight.
But finally, well over a decade after the fact, Shang-Chi stands poised to join the
MCU, thanks in part to another solo vehicle which became one of Marvel's biggest success
stories and one of the biggest films of 2018.
Black Panther astonished audiences.
Crafted mainly by African-American filmmakers and featuring a hero who is the king of the
technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda...
“This never gets old."
the film proved that big-budget blockbusters created from a specific cultural viewpoint
can resonate strongly with general audiences, and it even outgrossed the juggernaut that
was Avengers: Infinity War at the domestic box office.
Taking a cue from this success, Marvel appears to have gone all-in on diversity, and it's
likely the studio's hope that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings can strike a similar
chord in pop culture at large.
To this end, the production has been loaded up with talented people of Asian descent on
both sides of the camera.
Japanese/Irish American Destin Daniel Cretton will direct from a screenplay by Chinese-American
scribe Dave Callaham, who is contributing to Warner Brothers' upcoming Wonder Woman
1984 as well as Sony Pictures Animation's as-yet untitled sequel to Spider-Man: Into
the Spider-Verse.
Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu has landed the title role, and the suddenly ubiquitous
rapper-turned-actor Awkwafina will appear among the supporting cast.
Legendary Chinese actor Tony Leung will co-star as the Mandarin, an iconic villain who many
fans feel was previously given extremely short shrift.
The title of Shang-Chi's solo vehicle quickly got the attention of Marvel fans, alluding
as it does to a mysterious terrorist organization that has lurked in the shadows of the MCU
since its inception.
The Ten Rings are the group responsible for Tony Stark's kidnapping in Iron Man, they've
been alluded to in both of that film's sequels as well as Ant-Man.
They're led by none other than the real Mandarin, who famously a ring on every finger in the
comics.
This is not the phony Trevor Slattery or his handler Aldrich Killian, both of whom falsely
laid claim to the Mandarin name.
"Where's the Mandarin?
Where is he?"
"Whoa!
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!
He's here.
He's here, but he's not here.
He's here but he's not here."
In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, this group will finally step out of the shadows
and truly make their presence felt.
The Ten Rings are dedicated to nothing less than the destabilization of the entire planet,
sowing the kind of chaos which will lead to the collapse of world governments and create
a power vacuum.
They've butted heads with Iron Man, Black Widow, and Nick Fury, but they'll soon face
the Master of Kung-Fu, who never met a challenge that he couldn't kick the absolute crap out
of.
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