Marvel has a limited amount of Asian superheroes and villains, so, it was sort of a one-two gut punch when the studio decided to avoid casting Asian actors with The Mandarin in Iron Man 3 and The Ancient One in Doctor Strange.
Luckily, Marvel Studios used Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings to modernize the Mandarin as the father of Simu Liu’s Asian-American superhero taking the place of Dr. Fu Manchu, an even bigger Asian stereotype villain. This reworking was thanks in part to the film’s writing team of Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, and Andrew Lanham.
In retrospect, it sounds like studio head Kevin Feige is owning up to that mistake concerning The Ancient One while speaking with Men’s Health (spotted by The Playlist) he admitted that could have done better reworking the character instead of simply hiring a white actor to avoid a stereotype landmine.
FEIGE: “We thought we were being so smart, and so cutting-edge. We’re not going to do the cliché of the wizened, old, wise Asian man. But it was a wake-up call to say, ‘Well, wait a minute, is there any other way to figure it out? Is there any other way to both not fall into the cliché and cast an Asian actor?’ And the answer to that, of course, is yes.”
Shang-Chi having a mostly Asian cast and the hiring of Gemma Chan as Sersi in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals when the major role could have gone to a white actor are signs the studio is committed to incremental change to give audiences stronger Asian characters in their superhero blockbusters. Hiring more Asian creatives is just as important as hiring more Asian talent to star in these projects.
Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) is coming off shooting the martial arts blockbuster Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, priming audiences to embrace the first Asian-led superhero film from Marvel Studios and potentially making an impact as large as Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. I’m hopeful that the Marvel flick will continue to bust more Hollywood myths concerning Asian/Asian-American leads being successful on a global level at the box office.
While there hasn’t been any official word concerning a Shang-Chi sequel, another project is on the horizon for Destin Daniel Cretton, according to Deadline. The outlet says he’ll direct a series adaptation of the novel Facing The Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes In World War II written by Daniel James Brown.
They came from across the continent and Hawaii. Their parents taught them to embrace both their Japanese heritage and the ways of their American homeland. They faced bigotry, yet they believed in their bright futures as American citizens. But within days of Pearl Harbor, the FBI was ransacking their houses and locking up their fathers. And within months many would themselves be living behind barbed wire.
The book focuses on the brave and patriotic Japanese-American soldiers of World War II that became war heroes. A group of fighting men that faced a paranoid United States government challenging their loyalty because they happened to be of Japanese ethnicity after the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor trusting the country into the war in the Pacific. Many Japanese-American families were sent to interment camps because the government claimed they couldn’t trust them and this led to many Japanese-American men to sign-up to prove just how loyal they were to the United States, giving up their lives and fighting for the country they loved.
It’s unknown where the series will land but Destin Daniel Cretton was originally going to direct the HBO Max crime series Tokyo Vice before Shang-Chi led to a scheduling conflict and Michael Mann was brought in to direct instead. Then again, WarnerMedia recently passed on the WWII series Masters of The Air from producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, which landed at Apple TV+ instead.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Celebrating the birthday of Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu, Marvel Studios has released a wave of promotional material for their upcoming martial arts flick Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings. This includes a first-look teaser trailer revealing that Shang-Chi’s father Wenwu gave his son 10 years to live his own life in San Francisco before taking his place at his side.
Wenwu is expected to be the MCU’s version of The Mandarin, a character that had been seen in Iron Man 3 but was revealed to be a fake. The Iron Man villain has long been seen as a stereotype, however, it looks like director Destin Daniel Cretton will be giving him a more complex adaptation as he stands-in for Shang-Chi’s comic book papa Fu Machu.
A trio of images were also posted by Entertainment Weekly which you can see below.
Marvel Studios recently moved the release date of Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings from July 9, 2021 to September 3, 2021 as they delayed Black Widow to that July spot.
There is now word of yet another casting addition to the Asian-led superhero flick. Actor Dallas Liu (Pen15) has reportedly joined the cast of Shang-Chi according to Deadline, however, the outlet doesn’t mention the character he’ll be playing.
Production wrapped last year with the filming primarily taking place at Fox Australia Studios in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They paused filming in early 2020 due to the pandemic but resumed last summer and was able to complete principal photography along with some brief exterior shots in San Francisco.
The film’s cast includes Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Awkwafina as Katy, Tony Leung as Wenwu aka The Mandarin, Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Meng’er Zhang as Xialing, Fala Chen as Jiang Li, and Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist.
Shang-Chi aka Master of Kung-Fu, as his title would suggest is an expert in martial arts and eventually in the comics was given the super-human ability to make copies of himself, not unlike mutant character Multiple Man. It’s unclear if we’ll be seeing Shang-Chi’s more recent power-set or if that will come later.
While unconfirmed, there is a strong possibility the film will attempt to introduce/tease the Atlas Foundation (base of operations is underneath San Francisco), which could lead to the superhero team Agents of Atlas joining the MCU. A recent incarnation has Shang-Chi as a member and Randall Park’s FBI Agent Jimmy Woo has always had a leadership role on the roster.
We’ll continue to hope that we’ll get a Shang-Chi trailer in the very near future.
After someone on Twitter suggested that Marvel Studios consider giving Randall Park‘s Agent Jimmy Woo his own X-Files-type series as Woo returned in WandaVision, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings star Simu Liu wants in on the hypothetical pitch for a spinoff series and says he’d like to cameo on it.
Jimmy Woo isn’t the regular side-character as he predates a bulk of Marvel superheroes debuting back in 1956 from Atlas Comics (precursor to Marvel Comics) and eventually became the team leader of the Agents of Atlas, a team that feature a bunch of obscure heroes such as Gorilla-Man, HumanRobot, Venus, The Uranian, and Namor’s cousin Namora.
The more recent incarnation of the team includes Simu’s Shang-Chi alongside other Asian superheroes. There has been speculation that we’ll see the upcoming solo film plant seeds for Agents of Atlas as Shang-Chi, The Mandarin, and Jimmy Woo are expected to have direct ties to Atlas Empire/Atlas Foundation which in the comics has it’s headquarters located underneath San Francisco, California. A location that ties Shang-Chi to Park’s Ant-Man franchise.
In theory, there is a place for Jimmy in the MCU to lead his own team as it has been established in the comics.
Simu Liu isn’t a stranger to television since once he finished work on his Marvel movie in Australia he returned to Toronto to shoot the CBC sitcom Kim’s Convenience. Liu’s co-star Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is already part of the Disney+ family as he played Captain Carson Teva in Season 2 of The Mandalorian and most likely will appear in the spinoff series Rangers of The New Republic. The Shang-Chi star has also been hinting he’d like to join the Star Wars universe as well.
While a Jimmy Woo series is possible, there is a better chance that he’ll join the ranks of S.W.O.R.D. to potentially have a supporting role in things like the Secret Invasion series and Captain Marvel 2 as both are expected to have a heavy S.W.O.R.D. presence. Woo having a larger role within the MCU as a crossover character feels like the right move and it could eventually lead to a project like Agents of Atlas, something that could be worthwhile as a feature film franchise given the multiple untapped superheroes on it’s roster and not just a Disney+ series.
Also, given the title Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been previously used, I wouldn’t be shocked if Marvel Studios just referred to the team as simply Atlas, if and when they bring them into the MCU.
Marvel Studios had a rather large presentation at last week’s Disney Investor Day event and Kevin Feige had a lot of information to share in such a short period. Below is a rundown of most of the new information and adjusted release dates.
What seemed like the biggest announcement made during the massive amount of information was that director Jon Watts has been selected by the studio to reboot The Fantastic Four for them. Watts having worked with Marvel Studios to reboot the Spider-Man franchise with Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the untitled Spider-Man 3 (currently filming in Atlanta as The November Project).
When Fantastic Four will begin shooting is unknown as Jon will be busy with Spider-Man 3 until it’s release in 12 months and they failed to mention any screenwriters. This will mark the first Marvel film for Watts that won’t have Sony Pictures’ involvement and might suggest that he won’t be coming back for Spider-Man 4.
Fandom has collectively chosen to campaign for John Krasinski and Emily Blunt to play the roles of Mister Fantastic and The Invisible Woman, however, there hasn’t been any concrete casting news concerning the project as it only just got confirmed.
Feige had telegraphed back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 that Fantastic Four was the priority former Fox property they were aiming to reboot ahead of the X-Men. There is a possibility that Dr. Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm could appear in other films first.
One of the more frustrating things concerning Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is that they kept most of the cast unofficial for the entirety of the shoot but they’ve now announced a good chunk of the cast, while not all of them. The cast so far includes actors Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as Wenwu aka The Mandarian, Awkwafina as Katy, Meng’er Zhang as Xialing, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Fala Chen as Jiang Li, and Florian Munteanu as villain William Young aka Razor Fist.
Shang-Chi along with Black Widow are still set to be released in theaters, not on Disney+, with the Destin Daniel Cretton martial arts action film set for July 9, 2021.
Director Sam Raimi has started filming Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness is officially shooting and will not only connect to WandaVision but also Jon Watts’ Spider-Man 3. While Kevin didn’t confirm it, there is a good chance that Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker and other characters carrying over to the Doctor Strange sequel.
However, he did confirm that that Xochitl Gomez will be playing America Chavez aka Miss America. The young newcomer joins Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as villain Baron Mordo.
It’s release date is set for March 25, 2022.
We finally know Christian Bale‘s character in Thor: Love & Thunder as he’ll play the film’s villain Gorr The God Butcher. A role we assume will be done with motion-capture given the design of his comic book counterpart.
Deadline recently reported that Jaimie Alexander will reprise the role of Lady Sif.
The rest of the cast consists of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, and director Taika Waititi will return to the role of Korg.
Filming begins next month in Australia and it’s release date has been moved once more to May 6, 2022.
Captain Marvel 2 director Nia DaCosta was finally confirmed alongside the return of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers. New additions to the franchise are Ms. Marvel‘s Iman Vellani co-starring as Kamala Khan and WandaVision actress Teyonah Parris as the adult version of Monica Rambeau aka Spectrum.
There is a good chance that it will connect to Secret Invasion as it will also shoot in the United Kingdom.
The film’s date was bumped to November 11th, 2021.
Marvel revealed the title for Ant-Man 3 will be Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. Peyton Reed will be back as director with Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lily, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer returning as part of the main cast. The title suggesting the film will be entering the Quantum Realm or have strange things come out it.
The big announcement concerning the film is that Kathryn Newton (Freaky) has been recast as Cassie Lang aka Stature with rising-star Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country) confirmed as villain Kang The Conqueror. It remains to be seen if the third installment will help introduce The Fantastic Four before their own solo film from Jon Watts given Kang’s connection to the former 20th Century Fox heroes.
A release date wasn’t mentioned but is expected something in 2022.
James Gunn is officially back for Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 with them aiming for a 2023 release date. They’re also developing a holiday special and Groot shorts for Disney+.
Kevin Feige didn’t give much in the way of details for Black Panther 2 but revealed they would not be recasting Chadwick Boseman‘s role of T’Challa. He stopped short from explaining what they are doing with the sequel and reaffirmed that writer/director Ryan Coogler is still working on the film.
While we suspect potential delays on the project, they announced the film is coming July 8th, 2022. The spot was previously held by Captain Marvel 2.
Marvel also announced another round of Disney+ shows.
The Nick Fury series was confirmed to be an adaption of Secret Invasion, which involved a bunch of humanity revealed as being replaced with Skrulls. In the comics, it was revealed that a bunch of Avengers were uncovered to be Skrulls too. As assumed, Samuel L. Jackson will reprise the Fury role with Ben Mendelsohn back as Skrull leader Talos.
The Fox portion of the Skrull rights via Fantastic Four are now in the hands of Marvel and could allow for Super-Skrulls to come into play becoming a big threat as they mimic superpowers of various Marvel Comics heroes.
It had been reported that Kyle Bradstreet would be developing the show.
There are signs the series will shoot in the United Kingdom around the same time as Captain Marvel 2, which could suggest a direct connection via S.W.O.R.D. and the Skrulls.
Olivia Wilde is reportedly directing a Spider-Woman film for Sony Pictures. It’s worth mentioning that Jessica Drew is an Agent of S.W.O.R.D. and is one of the characters in the comics revealed to be a Skrull (Veranke The Skrull Queen). Marvel’s participation on that film while assumed hasn’t been made official.
Don Cheadle will lead his own Disney+ series as War Machine titled Armor Wars.
If the series takes cues from the comic book series we could see the return of Sam Rockwell‘s Justin Hammer, another fan-favorite that is still kicking around in the MCU.
We could also see the addition of unused Iron Man villains such as the Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and others.
An Ironheart series will star Dominique Thorne as whiz-kid Riri Williams, who creates her own advance armor. I wouldn’t be shocked if there happens to be a crossover with Armor Wars.
They revealed new trailers for their upcoming slate of Disney+ series including WandaVision (coming January 15,2021), The Falcon & The Winter Soldier (coming March 19, 2021), Loki (coming May 2021), and their animated series What If…? (coming summer 2021). The trailers give us the first look at X-Men location Madripoor in Falcon and the scale of the Loki series with teases of his return to Asgard.
Additional information concerning the upcoming shows includes that Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye will indeed be aiming for a 2021, something The Ronin reported on earlier this month. Kevin Feige providing an sizzle footage for the former which is impressive given it only recently started shooting in Atlanta.
With She-Hulk, Kevin confirmed that the cast will include Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, and the return of Tim Roth‘s Abomination. The latter addition could help support previous chatter that we might see William Hurt‘s Thunder Bolt Ross and Liv Tyler‘s Betty Ross in the series as well bring most of The Incredible Hulk cast back.
I’m sure there are more things to be announced in the future as they hinted to upcoming news concerning Mahershala Ali‘s Blade. Although, I’m sure fans were a little upset they left-out Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool 3 or an update on the X-Men reboot. There is now overwhelming evidence that The Young Avengers are coming at some point given that most have been cast already.
Filming on Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings has officially wrapped their shoot in Australia, however, the studio has yet to give more than four names of the actors that are in the film. We really only know that Simu Liu is playing Shang-Chi and Andy Lau is playing the real version of The Mandarin.
Lead actress Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, The Farewell) who plays an unnamed lead character in the Marvel film recently spoke with Style Caster (spotted by The Direct) and talked a little bit about her role along with what they’re aiming to do with busting Asian tropes.
AWKWAFINA: “There’s a little bit of me in every character I play, which is a good and bad thing. I do feel like I can relate to her. I can’t say much about the role, but I can say that she is thrust into a world where she doesn’t really know what to do. At the same time, she’s discovering things about herself.”
“When you think about certain things that have characterized Asians and Asian Americans in American media, you think about things like kung fu and martial arts. While this movie is actually about that, we were able to work with world-class stunt teams of people where this is their livelihood. So the authenticity that the studio and Destin approached those tropes is very, very special.”
The film will see Marvel’s first Asian-led superhero film and might end up becoming another cultural landmark for the studio.
Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is set to be released on July 9th, 2021.
THE RONIN 