Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ will draw from more than the kung fu genre
By Erik Swann
Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings won’t be limited to the kung fu film genre.
The Master of Kung Fu will make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters in 2021. While he is best known for his mastery of martial arts, this won’t be the only thing the film will have to offer.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently headlined a lecture and Q&A with the New York Film Academy. When asked about how Marvel utilizes different film genres, he expressed his belief that the studio tries not to place a film in a single genre.
He went on to illustrate this point with Shang-Chi, which he says won’t simply be a kung fu movie. “Shang-Chi is gonna be so much more than a Kung Fu movie,” the film producer said. “But it has elements of that, which we’re excited about.”
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Marvel Studios has toyed with different genres of film since the dawn of the MCU. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ant-Man are only a handful of their movies that can be categorized into specific genres, but one could argue that they draw from other realms of cinema. During this same conversation, Feige also explained that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness actually a horror movie but a movie that has its share of “scary sequences.”
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When Shang-Chi was announced, it was easy to assume the film would take inspiration from Asian cinema, especially kung fu films. But hearing these comments make the project sound all the more interesting. And seeing a blockbuster film with what Feige describes as a “98% Asian” cast is also a plus.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu, Tony Leung and Awkwafina and will open in theaters on February 12, 2021.