Photo by Aznrom3o via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu, best known for playing Jung Kim on CBC sitcom Kim’s Convenience, will play the titular role in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Hong Kong actor Tony Leung and Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina have also joined the cast.
Representatives made the announcement during the Marvel panel at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday.
The character Shang-Chi, created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, first appeared in 1973’s Special Marvel Edition No. 15. He was born in China to a Chinese father and a White American mother. Shang-Chi’s father, villain Fu Manchu, trained him to be a martial artist assassin, but Shang-Chi rebels against his father and becomes a hero.
Fu Manchu has long been a problematic character, perpetuating the evil foreigner stereotype, but the storyline will allegedly be updated for a modern audience. Sources have said Marvel still will include the father-son story, but the main antagonist will be the Mandarin, a Chinese genius scientist and martial artist. Leung will be playing the role of the Mandarin, reports Digital Spy.
“In some ways, he could take the place of Captain America in the fact that he’s the resourceful weak link,” Starlin said of Shang-Chi. “He doesn’t have any superpowers, he’s a martial artist and depending on where they go with the rest of the Marvel Universe, he may end up playing that role I could see. It’s speculation, but it makes sense.”
Marvel conducted “a really in-depth search to find someone that will capture all the dimensions that he deserves,” said director Destin Daniel Cretton before announcing Liu for the role.
Liu was born in China and immigrated to Canada at five years old. In Kim’s Convenience, his character Jung is the son of a Korean immigrant family running a Toronto convenience store. He also starred in Canadian crime drama Blood and Water.
“I was cast on Tuesday,” said Liu. “I screen-tested on Sunday in New York. This is the craziest, craziest dream.”
Liu tweeted at Marvel about the role back in December, but he may have never actually expected it to happen:
Many are excited to see what Simu Liu will bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is scheduled to open in theaters on February 12, 2021.
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RE: Simu Liu will be Marvel’s Shang-Chi: Why isn’t this categorized under Chinese Americans?
Word press automatically makes the featured tag the category that comes first in alphabetical order. While AAPI actor is not incorrect, the writer/editor should have also categorized this under Chinese American. That has now been done.