Now that everyone knows vaguely what the plans are for Marvel’s ‘phase 4’ within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s now worth exploring what’s exactly going to happen. Of course, we don’t know absolutely everything, but there have been some pretty interesting characters introduced into the fold. One of those characters is Shang-Chi. No one’s heard of him, so what makes him so special?
Shang-Chi begins as an assassin
He doesn’t realize it at the time, but he is actually acting as an36 for his father. The comics show how Shang-Chi clearly has no idea that his father is actually evil, and does his bidding whenever he asks. Having been told that one man is a very evil individual, Shang-Chi is told to end his life, and believing his father, carries out the mission. The only trouble is, he soon discovers that his father’s motives were less than pure, and has to refer to his mother, asking whether his father really is the most infamous villain of all time.
A master of hand-to-hand combat
What are his superhero powers? I hear you ask. Well, aside from being one of the best assassins in the world, Shang-Chi is a master of hand-to-hand combat. In fact, there is practically no foe he can’t destroy through this medium. He can learn any fighting style he pleases, and have ultimate control over his chi, or life force. As a result of this, he has enhanced combat prowess, including the ability to dodge bullets. While it might seem a little late for that within the MCU, Shang-Chi was actually known to have taught Captain America, Spider-Man and Wolverine at some point.
The legend of the ten rings
Thankfully, the title has given more away than many people might think. In fact, it suggests that audiences will have a true and proper run-in with ‘The mandarin,’ not the fake one that everyone was introduced to in the Iron Man 3 movie. In the comic books, the ten rings supposedly link with an alien race which also happens to be dragons. You discover more about the Mandarin’s past and where Shang-Chi comes into it all.
Joining the Avengers
While Shang-Chi’s past is somewhat of an elusive one, we do know that he has spent several issues fighting alongside the Avengers. It’s also highly probable that he is also going to make it into the Avengers within the Marvel Cinematic Universe too. While he helps the Avengers fight battles on a more cosmic side, he ends up gaining the ability to replicate himself, making him even more unstoppable. However, he refuses to use the new power unless he hasn’t got a choice. After all, he is the master of fighting.
His movie is over ten years late
The movie was actually supposed to be released around the same time as ‘Iron Man’ and was announced all the way back in 2005. However, since the company started heading in a different direction from the year 2007, that was set back quite away. However, thankfully, it seems that Shang-Chi is finally having his moment despite being put off for over a decade.
The movie is currently set to be released on February 12, 2021. So we still have to get through the rest of 2019, and the whole of 2020 before we’re even close to being introduced to this character.
