IGN: Marvel developing Shang-Chi, its first asian superhero film

[Jabare]

Marvel Studios is reportedly developing Shang-Chi, its first Asian superhero movie, according to Deadline.

Chinese-American writer, Dave Callaham, will be writing the screenplay. Callaham most recently co-wrote the sequel for Wonder Woman 1984, and is writing the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2.

For those unfamiliar, Shang-Chi is a martial artist who is also a super hero, and known as the "Master of Kung-Fu" in the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in 1973’s Special Marvel Edition No. 15.

read the full article:
https://za.ign.com/shang-chi/127462/...superhero-film


long overdue. I am very excited hopefully Marvel does this right.

[Naked Bat]

It's really great. Let's hope they do justice to the character and what he represents.

[Sighphi]

I am very excited hopefully Marvel does this right.

It's really great. Let's hope they do justice to the character and what he represents.

You know they are going to change everything. They didn't work with Mandarin who was powered with alien tech, so they are not going to work with actual Chinese mysticism.

[HowitzerJoe]

I hope to hear well spoken Mandarin from the cast.

[Cyke]

I've been saying this for years on this board and had been called all sorts of things, for saying that movies with Asian leads and Asian BTS talent can be bankable without resorting to whitewashing, tokenizing, or erasure. Then Crazy Rich Asians comes along and Hollywood acts like it's a surprise when it's been something that people have been telling them all along. I don't blame Marvel for wanting a piece of that pie, but this is vindication.

A word of note, though: let's not go around saying it's the Asian Black Panther. Black Panther was its own thing and its own phenomenon. Black communities and Asian communities have different struggles, and sometimes those struggles align, but both groups deserve ownership over the heroes that look like them when sharing them with others.

[Michael Watkins]

I've been saying this for years on this board and had been called all sorts of things, for saying that movies with Asian leads and Asian BTS talent can be bankable without resorting to whitewashing, tokenizing, or erasure. Then Crazy Rich Asians comes along and Hollywood acts like it's a surprise when it's been something that people have been telling them all along. I don't blame Marvel for wanting a piece of that pie, but this is vindication.

has Shang Chi been financial success for Marvel? don't jinx it.

[GOLGO 13]

I hope to hear well spoken Mandarin from the cast.

Taking bets to see which "white" star Marvel tries to squeeze in here to accompany Shang-Chi for most of the movie. Hollywood can not help themselves.

[titanfan]

You know they are going to change everything. They didn't work with Mandarin who was powered with alien tech, so they are not going to work with actual Chinese mysticism.

Or the whole Ancient One fiasco in Dr. Strange. (I admit Tilda killed it in the role)

While it's not MCU, all the times Jubilee has been cast as a white woman in the various X-Men properties.

Taking bets to see which "white" star Marvel tries to squeeze in here to accompany Shang-Chi for most of the movie. Hollywood can not help themselves.

Scarlett Johansson, of course! (Plot Twist: Shang-Chi was really Black Widow in disguise the whole time!)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I've been saying this for years on this board and had been called all sorts of things, for saying that movies with Asian leads and Asian BTS talent can be bankable without resorting to whitewashing, tokenizing, or erasure. Then Crazy Rich Asians comes along and Hollywood acts like it's a surprise when it's been something that people have been telling them all along. I don't blame Marvel for wanting a piece of that pie, but this is vindication.

I remember when Memoirs of a Geisha came out in 2005, I thought it was amazing, lush, stylish with a damn good story, and the all Asian cast, fronted by Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as Sayuri was marvelous, however, if memory serves, it didn't fare all that well at the box office, but, that didn't stop me from adding it to my home movie collection. While it's admirable Marvel wants to take a stab at Shang Chi, I suspect they'll make a mess of things here. Let's face it, not ALL their movies have been four alarm successes, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility they could stumble with this venture.

[Frontier]

I hope to hear well spoken Mandarin from the cast.

I'm curious how they'll handle Shang's dad, since he's his nemesis and was actually Fu Manchu at one point .

has Shang Chi been financial success for Marvel? don't jinx it.

Well, neither have the Guardians or Ant-Man, but that hasn't stopped them yet .

Taking bets to see which "white" star Marvel tries to squeeze in here to accompany Shang-Chi for most of the movie. Hollywood can not help themselves.

I think we might have an Everett Ross or a Klaw in the movie, but I think that's about it.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I'm curious how they'll handle Shang's dad, since he's his nemesis and was actually Fu Manchu at one point .

Marvel butchered the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 because they saw the character from the comics as a stereotype. Fu Manchu would be worse.

[Cyke]

has Shang Chi been financial success for Marvel? don't jinx it.

I second Frontier's point:

Well, neither have the Guardians or Ant-Man, but that hasn't stopped them yet .

And also note that modern Marvel movies started with Blade, which was hardly a brand even in the mid-90s.

Now of course caution is needed, but all the pessimism and shitting on Asian actors and directors to justify extremely racist treatment, only to turn around and try to bank off it, needs to be balanced out and corrected with some actual hope and the intention of doing a good job.

Taking bets to see which "white" star Marvel tries to squeeze in here to accompany Shang-Chi for most of the movie. Hollywood can not help themselves.

In fairness though, Black Panther did it well. Rather than Everett being shoehorned as the lead and pushing T'Challa to supporting cast (see: The Last Samurai), Everett ends up being a metaphor himself about positive white allyship about Black struggles -- first skeptical and a bit cocky, then in disbelief, then diving in to support his friends under their orders. He thought he had all the answers, found out that there was way more to the conflict than he first believed, and found that he needed to help without taking the lead.

I also loved Klaw's portrayal -- very wealthy robber, colonizer, and appropriator who very much devalues Black culture and laughs at anyone who tries to stop him (and Andy Serkis was simply wonderful in the role). A pity that his portrayal ended far too soon.

I remember when Memoirs of a Geisha came out in 2005, I thought it was amazing, lush, stylish with a damn good story, and the all Asian cast, fronted by Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as Sayuri was marvelous, however, if memory serves, it didn't fare all that well at the box office, but, that didn't stop me from adding it to my home movie collection. While it's admirable Marvel wants to take a stab at Shang Chi, I suspect they'll make a mess of things here. Let's face it, not ALL their movies have been four alarm successes, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility they could stumble with this venture.

It's not beyond the realm of possibility for them to stumble, but it's the same kick-them-on-the-ground pessimism that Asians in Hollywood have been facing for decades, the same kind of pessimism used to justify their erasure and whitewashing to begin with. Everyone rightfully imagined Infinity War doing gangbusters, sure. There was some talk about Black Panther being competitive with Infinity War -- sure, that seems far-fetched in hindsight, but not unfounded given its buzz, and BP still brought in a ****-ton of money in its own right. People expected Iron Man and Captain America movies to succeed, and they did. People were confused about why GoTG and Ant-Man were given an opportunity, and they shone like diamonds. But it's against Hollywood trend to imagine Asian success; it's far easier to imagine Asian failure because it's history, but it's also a history that's been rigged and sabotaged. Now's not just the time for an Asian superhero movie, it's also time to afford the same courtesy of optimism that other Marvel movies have received.

That's not to say to run on autopilot. That's not to say Marvel should rest on their laurels. And that's not to say that the movie will automatically be a hit. But the benefit of having an Asian American director (like Marvel is currently scouting for) and an Asian American writer (which they've already secured) means that Marvel's implementing safeguards for the sake of quality control, just like they did with Black Panther and an almost all-Black crew in major creative positions, by putting their faith and resources into the talent they hired.

[Tuck]

I've been saying this for years on this board and had been called all sorts of things, for saying that movies with Asian leads and Asian BTS talent can be bankable without resorting to whitewashing, tokenizing, or erasure. Then Crazy Rich Asians comes along and Hollywood acts like it's a surprise when it's been something that people have been telling them all along. I don't blame Marvel for wanting a piece of that pie, but this is vindication.

Maybe Crazy Rich Asians is an eye-opener for Hollywood, but Hong Kong action movies have always been popular. Selling a good kung fu movie with the Marvel brand on it should never have been hard.

[Michael Watkins]

Taking bets to see which "white" star Marvel tries to squeeze in here to accompany Shang-Chi for most of the movie. Hollywood can not help themselves.

the books beat them to it. isn't Shang aligned with a mostly white spy agency?

[Star_Jammer]

Will he have his self-duplication powers, I wonder?

(Does he even have those in the comics still?)