Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton revealed that the upcoming Marvel film features wuxia-style fight scenes. After several pandemic-related delays, the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will premiere in theatres this September. The Marvel origin film will see Shang-Chi confront his upbringing and attempt to take down The Ten Rings, a terrorist organization created by his devious father Wenwu. The blockbuster stars Simu Liu and is the first Marvel film with an Asian protagonist. The titular character was created by writer Steve Englehard and artist Jim Starlin and first appeared in Special Marvel Edition #15.

Cretton told Empire that the film’s action sequences were inspired by 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and numerous Jackie Chan films. “Authenticity and respect and staying true to this genre was the main objective from day one,” said Cretton, while adding, “we also had choreographers from mainland China who created some beautiful wuxia-style fight scenes.” Wuxia is a genre of Chinese cinema that involves itinerant warriors of ancient China who have superhuman feats of martial arts. In the comics, Shang-Chi was proficient in numerous unarmed and weaponry-based wushu styles.

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The director stressed that he wanted to portray Shang-Chi as more than just a prolific martial artist. “It was important for us from the beginning to have the MCU’s first Asian-American superhero be a superhero,” stated Cretton. “We want him to be on par with other superheroes in the MCU and not just be the master of kung fu. Shang-Chi is an incredible martial artist, but he’s so much more than that.” Liu has previously stated that he hopes the film can live up to the legacy left by Black Panther and present a hero that millions of kids can relate to. Since Phase 3, Marvel has made a concerted effort to feature superheroes from diverse backgrounds. Ms. Marvel will introduce a Muslim-American superhero, while Marvel’s Eternals stars the first deaf and openly gay superheroes in MCU history.

Shang-Chi is one of many MCU Phase 4 films that will be released in theatres from 2021 through 2023. The first theatrical film in this phase will be Cate Shortland’s Black Widow. The standalone film stars Scarlett Johansson and will focus on Natasha Romanoff’s family and history as a Russian spy. Disney announced that Black Widow will be released simultaneously in theatres and on Disney+ this summer.

Meanwhile, production on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness wrapped this spring. The cast of Doctor Strange 2 includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, and Benedict Wong. While the exact details of the film have been kept under wraps, the movie is set to tie directly into the hit Disney Plus series WandaVision.

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings will be released in theatres on September 3, 2021.

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Source: Empire