Marvel’s Shang-Chi movie has arrived! Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience) stars as the title character of the film, which is called Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Destin Daniel Cretton directs Shang-Chi, while Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina also stars.
But who is Shang-Chi, and why is he regarded as one of the greatest warriors in the Marvel Universe? Here’s why they call him the Master of Kung Fu!
Shang-Chi: The Basics
Shang-Chi may be the son of one of the worst villains in the Marvel Universe, but he himself ranks among its greatest heroes. Shang-Chi has devoted his life to perfecting his martial arts abilities. Rather than using those talents for fame and fortune, he travels the world and rights wrongs. Sometimes he works alone. Other times he fights alongside heroes like Spider-Man, Daredevil or the Avengers. But wherever he goes, Shang-Chi inspires hope in the hearts of the innocent and dread in anyone foolish enough to challenge him in battle.
Shang-Chi’s Powers and Abilities
Traditionally, Shang-Chi is depicted as being an ordinary fighter with no true superhuman abilities. But despite lacking Daredevil’s heightened senses, Captain America’s super-strength or Iron Fist’s unbreakable hands, Shang-Chi has developed a reputation for being quite possibly the best hand-to-hand fighter in the Marvel Universe. He’s skilled in a number of different forms of armed and unarmed combat. And because of his total mastery of his body’s chi, Shang-Chi is strong enough to shatter metal and quick enough to dodge and even deflect bullets.
Recently, Marvel did overhaul Shang-Chi and give him a new superhuman ability – the power to create numerous copies of himself, each just as skilled in the martial arts as the original.
Shang-Chi: Origin and Background
Shang-Chi debuted in 1973’s Special Marvel Edition #15. With the popularity of superheroes waning in the ’70s, Marvel increasingly branched out into other genres like fantasy (Conan the Barbarian) and horror (Tomb of Dracula). Like Iron Fist and the Daughters of the Dragon, Shang-Chi was conceived out of a desire to tap into the martial arts movie craze of the time.
Initially, Marvel attempted to license the rights to the TV series Kung Fu. When that failed, the company instead acquired the rights to the work of pulp novelist Sax Rohmer, including infamous Chinese villain Dr. Fu Manchu and his Sherlock Holmes-like nemesis, Sir Denis Nayland Smith. Shang-Chi was introduced as the previously unknown son of Fu Manchu, and the greatest threat to Fu Manchu’s plans for world domination.