

I mean, it’s kind of weird, because he is a pretty prominent superhero in the comics. I had never heard of it until I found out that I was working on this movie. Times are changing as we all move forward together as a society.
15 YEAR OLD SHANG CHI ACTOR MOVIE
But after having seen Shang-Chi, it still impacted my enjoyment of the movie in an extremely positive way. I was just happy to get the experience of watching a superhero movie in theaters. I didn’t pay attention to the looks of the superheroes because I was a kid. When I watched the Marvel movies as a kid, it’s not something that I was aware of at all. How aware were you of the absence of Asian or Asian-American heroes in the Marvel universe-either the films or the comics-growing up? Did that impact your enjoyment of these stories at all? I’m also a fan of speedsters, so getting to see him onscreen was awesome. Yeah, I thought his character in that movie was incredible. I wouldn’t say I could relate to the characters, but a character that I really like was Quicksilver from Age of Ultron. Were there characters that resonated with you particularly? And to be a part of it-it’s like a dream.

I even had a Marvel marathon with some of my friends where we watched all the movies in chronological order. I was a superfan, just like everyone else watching these movies, absolutely. What kind of relationship did you have to Marvel? Were you a fan of these characters growing up? A skilled martial artist in his own right, Liu already has his next major role lined up: as Prince Zuko in Netfix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.Īhead of Shang-Chi’s opening weekend, Liu spoke to GRAZIA about the film’s significance for young Asian fans, growing up on Marvel movies and how martial arts lead him to acting. Despite his experience playing opposite hilarious women like Erskine and Awkwafina, Liu (no relation to the film’s star Simu) hope Shang-Chi will be a launch pad for more action fare. Fans of Hulu’s PEN15 will recognize the 20-year-old as Maya Erskine’s stoner older brother Shuji, but in Shang-Chi he plays Ruihua, the younger brother of the hero’s slacker bestie Katy (Awkwafina). “It felt kinda… warming,” says Dallas Liu of seeing the film for the first time. And it sure doesn’t hurt that critics are praising the film as well. It’s a major moment for Marvel’s Asian-American fans, who have been craving representation in comic book movies for decades.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the franchise’s first film to focus on a majority Asian cast and introduces Marvel’s first lead Asian superhero. Putting all of this together, Wenwu and his legendary army, the Ten Rings, have likely been ruling over China for centuries.The ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe is back in theaters with one of the most anticipated blockbusters of 2021. In the mid-credits scene, Shang-Chi estimates that his father had had the rings for about a thousand years. During this scene, Wenwu and his army wore armor that mimicked that of the Yuan and Ming dynasties-albeit with the Marvel style treatment-meaning his tirade had already begun by the Middle Ages. In the retelling of the legend of the Ten Rings by Shang-Chi's mother at the beginning of the movie, it is confirmed that the legend has been told for thousands of years. There is no exact date for his birth, but according to Shang-Chi, Wenwu is likely thousands of years old. Related: Marvel Just Explained Why Shang-Chi Retconned Endgame's Hulk Change The real Xu Wenwu was a warlord who had discovered the Ten Rings in ancient China, which granted him power and eternal life. When the real Xu Wenwu was revealed in Shang-Chi, it was clear that the villain was not amused with the theft of his legacy, keeping Slattery locked in the cells beneath his home. A villain claiming to be the Mandarin first appeared in Iron Man 3, however it was later revealed that the man was actually Trevor Slattery (Bill Kingsley), an actor who had adopted the Mandarin's moniker. The Mandarin has had a few false introductions throughout the MCU's history.
