The Master of Kung Fu - Shang Chi Appreciation 2019

[Yohei72]

In other news, South China Morning Post wrote this article concerning the importance of Tony Leung's casting in the film:

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/enter...marvel-villain

Seems that a lot of thought went into that casting, considering Tony is one of the most recognized and famous actors in Asia, especially with Chinese audiences. He's starred in a number of Zhang Yimou and War Kai Wong films. Additionally, the release of the film coincides just with the Chinese New Year holiday which is one of the most lucrative times for movies. Being a villain is a new thing for him considering he's usually been the good guy. Finally, the Mandarin possibly could be a major part of the MCU moving forward and a guy like Tony could carry the Mandarin character through multiple films.

I barely know Shang Chi at all, so Tony Leung's casting is the part I'm most excited about. I've been a Hong Kong cinema freak for over 20 years, and he's one of my favorite actors. I'm intrigued by the against-type casting as a villain. (Although he was effective as a vile corrupt cop in The Longest Nite.)

[chamber-music]

I like finally seeing the Mandarin in the MCU but part of me wishes they would not use a supervillain like the Mandarin and instead play up Shang-Ci's British Intelligence and spy connections. Maybe in the sequel.

Shang Chi may still be a super spy in the movie.

Ten Rings has already been established in the MCU as a secretive far reaching terrorist group ruled be a mysterious warlord called the Mandarin.

"The Ten Rings aren't your typical terrorists. They've raised secrecy to an art form. We still don't have the first clue what's really behind them."
―Nick Fury to Phil Coulson

I wouldn't be too shocked if some espionage character like Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Everett K.Ross or Sharon Carter makes a cameo. They could have Leiko Wu recruit Shang Chi to Chinese intelligence, MI6 or the CIA.

[chamber-music]

Do most people think that the Mandarin will be powerless or will his ten rings actually be alien artifacts with vast superpowers? And if they will have powers will the general audience think that they're too similar to the Infinity Stones? I could totally see Marvel thinking that and shy away from powered alien rings.

The Infinity Stones are far more powerful that Mandarin's alien rings.

I hope Mandarin has the rings since they are part of his identity but they could probably limit how much he can use to the rings as to not make him over powered.

[MichaelC]

Do most people think that the Mandarin will be powerless or will his ten rings actually be alien artifacts with vast superpowers? And if they will have powers will the general audience think that they're too similar to the Infinity Stones? I could totally see Marvel thinking that and shy away from powered alien rings.

Well Mandarin is far from powerless even without the rings. Without the rings, he's still a genius with mystic chi powers, no more powerless than Iron Fist. So they can keep the rings completely metaphorical and still have a powerful villain.

[strathcona]

How do you guys pronounce Shang-Chi's name? I have said it like it looks Shang, rhymes with Bang. But today I was listening to Q on CBC as they were interviewing Simu Liu, and the host kept saying Shung, rhymes with hung.

[Tien Long]

I've been wondering that too. I could see them going either way.

Whether it's too much like the Stones.....depends on how they handle the rings I suppose, but I dont think it would be too much of a problem to make the rings "feel" different enough from the Stones to not be a problem. Or hell, Marvel could even lean into it! The Stones were atomized by Thanos, but their atoms are still out there.....maybe Zheng/Mandarin somehow manages to collect some and transform them into his rings?

"Legend of the Ten Rings" sounds like they might be doing a lot more with the rings themselves than the organisation Ten Rings. At least it sounds like that to me anyway.

Maybe the rings are ancient alien artifacts passed down to different leaders/warriors/whatever, gifted to humanity by the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom, and they give the wearer superhuman strength, heightened intelligence, etc. Stuff like that.

I wouldn't mind seeing the rings in use. They probably won't be as powerful as the Infinity Stones, but powerful nonetheless. Yes, I'd still like to see them be alien tech given by Fin Fang Foom. It's a different direction from the typical mystical angle. And yeah, I'd like to see how these ten rings inspired the name for this global organization.

It's a nice way to use Mandarin in MCU, playing the role of Fu Manchu/Shang Chi's father. I'm more concerned when they decided to use that in regular comics for movie synergy.

I look forward to that, really. It's doable. Zheng Zu comes back from the dead, gets the Mandarin's rings, and becomes the new Mandarin. His ten rings plus his army of Hai Dai and Si Fan warriors and assassins finally put him on the radar of the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. and he becomes a top player in the Marvel Universe. That doesn't sound too bad.

Shang Chi may still be a super spy in the movie.

Ten Rings has already been established in the MCU as a secretive far reaching terrorist group ruled be a mysterious warlord called the Mandarin.

I wouldn't be too shocked if some espionage character like Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Everett K.Ross or Sharon Carter makes a cameo. They could have Leiko Wu recruit Shang Chi to Chinese intelligence, MI6 or the CIA.

Said it before, I think they'll streamline this and have Leiko Wu an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who will try to recruit Shang. Makes it easier for Nick Fury and Maria Hill to appear. Also, in the MCU, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot more recognition than MI-6.

How do you guys pronounce Shang-Chi's name? I have said it like it looks Shang, rhymes with Bang. But today I was listening to Q on CBC as they were interviewing Simu Liu, and the host kept saying Shung, rhymes with hung.

Ah yes, so how to really pronounce "Shang." Y'know when you go to the doctor and he or she makes you say "ahhhhhhh" when you stick out your tongue? Or you say "ah" when you go into a next relaxing tub of water? Now add an "sh" at the beginning and put an "ng" at the end of that, and that's how you say "Shang."

[Blind Wedjat]

The film has added Oscar-nominated costume designer Chung Man Yee (Curse of The Golden Flower)

https://hnentertainment.co/shang-chi...chung-man-yee/

This brings me to something I wanted to talk about a while ago but forgot to: What do you think they'll go with regarding Shang-Chi's costume?

Personally I haven't thought of a costume yet, but in my head I imagine Shang wearing outfit that suit his needs at a given time. For instance, I imagine the character will be wearing an assortment of tracksuits or track pants/bomber jacket combinations. They're a good way to tribute to Bruce Lee, be accurate to modern comics, and it's pretty much I see when I look at modern Chinese/Asian/Chinatown street style.

Problem is it doesn't really look superhero-y and aside from being great for movement they're not really practical as they don't offer much protection. My only other guess is a jumpsuit like he has in the comics that's made of protective materials.

[Hypestyle]

I like finally seeing the Mandarin in the MCU but part of me wishes they would not use a supervillain like the Mandarin and instead play up Shang-Ci's British Intelligence and spy connections. Maybe in the sequel.

So who would play Black Jack Tarr, and would his ethnic slur be accepted as a non-PC joke now?

[Punisher007]

The Mandarin could be leading some kind of global criminal empire, with the Ten Rings terror group from IM simply being one branch of it. That could work, and also play into the spy elements from the comics.

[Tien Long]

Hey all, just wanted to point out that Shang had a truly excellent showing in this month’s Sword Master #1. Check it out!

[Mr.Majestic]

Said it before, I think they'll streamline this and have Leiko Wu an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who will try to recruit Shang. Makes it easier for Nick Fury and Maria Hill to appear. Also, in the MCU, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot more recognition than MI-6.

I hope if Awkwafina is an FBI/SHIELD/SWORD agent we get to see her partnered with Randall Park's Jimmy Woo.

[Tien Long]

Just wanted to share this really cool scene from Sword Master #1:



Shows to me what Shang thinks about power. That's how he can stand up to all these supervillains and not flinch. Badass .

[Ascended]

I wouldn't mind seeing the rings in use. They probably won't be as powerful as the Infinity Stones, but powerful nonetheless. Yes, I'd still like to see them be alien tech given by Fin Fang Foom. It's a different direction from the typical mystical angle. And yeah, I'd like to see how these ten rings inspired the name for this global organization.

They *need* to be far, far less powerful than the Stones. We've seen Avengers like Thor and Captain America struggle against people with just one Stone, not even using that Stone to full effect; you can't throw a powerless guy against ten of them. No matter how good his Kung Fu is, audiences are going to call bullsh*t.

Y'know, I said earlier I'd be down either way, but giving it a bit more thought....half the reason I'm so excited for this film is because we've never seen a real street level MCU, nor a good Hong Kong martial arts throw down. If Zheng/Mandarin has the rings, street level goes right out the window. So maybe for the sake of novelty the rings shouldn't be anything special. Of course, they could have some *slight* ability and not elevate the story above the street, so maybe there's room to pull it off?

[Blind Wedjat]

They could just make the rings grant the Mandarin immortality? I think they could do the bare minimum with that.

[MichaelC]

They *need* to be far, far less powerful than the Stones. We've seen Avengers like Thor and Captain America struggle against people with just one Stone, not even using that Stone to full effect; you can't throw a powerless guy against ten of them. No matter how good his Kung Fu is, audiences are going to call bullsh*t.

Y'know, I said earlier I'd be down either way, but giving it a bit more thought....half the reason I'm so excited for this film is because we've never seen a real street level MCU, nor a good Hong Kong martial arts throw down. If Zheng/Mandarin has the rings, street level goes right out the window. So maybe for the sake of novelty the rings shouldn't be anything special. Of course, they could have some *slight* ability and not elevate the story above the street, so maybe there's room to pull it off?

The simplest thing to do would be to keep them at Silver Age levels. In the Silver Age, the rings were basically next-level ninja-tools. Next level versions of the smoke bombs and bolas tossed at the legs and dirt thrown in the eyes of regular ninjas. The Mandarin would do things like create a bunch of illusions of himself and karate-chop Iron Man while Iron Man didn't know which Mandarin to dodge. Or trap Iron Man's legs in ice and karate-chop him in the few seconds it took Iron Man to break free.

It was only later that powers got added to the rings that boosted them way out of that next-level-ninja-tool category.

There's nothing in a scene like this that is hopelessly beyond Shang's ability to deal with:


Of course, you'd need to either go with high-end version's of Shang Chi's ability to amp his body with chi, or tone down Mandarin's chi amping abilities, because The Mandarin can karate-chop through thick walls.