Originally Posted by
Tien Long
"Politically neutral" is a tricky term. If you get right down to it, everything has a political message, right? Though I only saw a couple of clips, there was pretty heavy propaganda in Wolf Warrior 2. The Chinese being heroes, saving Africans, fighting against a bad guy who has subtly symbolizes the white powerful colonizer/imperialist, the overtones were there. (Again, to be fair, a lot of countries do this. I mean, c'mon, Rocky IV's propaganda was through the roof!) I think when one of the interviewees mentions that they don't want a film with any overtly political references, that means nothing really weighty and negative. If Shang-Chi talked about China's firewall, references Tiananmen Square, or talks about prisons that house Muslim Uighurs, a Chinese audience would be upset, because they'd see the argument as one-sided. For mainland Chinese, there are reasons behind these things. Some would acknowledge it's negative. But still, it's a weighty, difficult thing. Saving Africans in Wolf Warrior 2 may be one-sided, but hey, that depicts China in a more positive light.
I see your point. It reminds me a lot of that post-credits scene in Black Panther when T'Challa opens up Wakanda to the U.N. or how his father wanted to help bombing victims back during Civil War. T'Challa has been opening Wakanda up to the rest of the world. I could definitely see him opening up to Nigandans and offering economic and infrastructure aid. In my storyline, though, I still think there could be Chinese/Wakandan tension. For Nigandans, Wakanda finally opening up could be too little, too late. Erasing centuries of tensions between the two countries wouldn't occur over night. Niganda wouldn't readily be accepting of Wakandan help, and thus would be more willing to open up to the Chinese. T'Challa's statescraft and political savvy would have to be on full display. And bringing it back to Shang-Chi, I could imagine a scene where these two, who have the utmost respect for one another as warriors, are discussing ways to avoid conflict, only to know that they'll eventually face one another.
Oh god, this has got to be done!
The more I look at Ludi, the more I'm feeling it too, bro.
The duplication thing, I'm still hesitant on it. As others have said, it was a one off kind of thing and it hasn't really been developed in the comics. I'll go with the gadgets, but that's as far as I'd go. As for the comments on Shang being a stereotype, I've stated my thoughts on this. Character development should be the focus, while the Kung Fu and martial arts should connect to life.