Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hit theaters earlier this year and exceeded both critical and commercial expectations. Now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a major new player on the board, but Shang-Chi could have looked a whole lot different based on these early designs.
While the first is relatively close to what we saw in the movie, Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park explains, "It was before I incorporated dragon skin/scales, and this had a bit of a modern urban flavor to it with the hoodie and all." If anything, this looks a little closer to the comic books, and you can see how it inspired what would become the final design.
The second version is vastly different from what made it to the big screen, and Park explains how the comic books - primarily Shang-Chi's association with MI6 - played into his thought process for this very early take on the master of martial arts. "This is some kind of jumpsuit kung-fu hero type look that I got to explore. Perhaps this lent to a more spy MI-6-type mission look."
There's a lot to love about these designs, but the suit we ended up with is arguably superior to both. Hopefully, more concept art is on the way as it's always fun to explore these early takes.
Check out Park's amazing alternate designs for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings below:
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