Marvel Studios is moving full speed ahead in the developmental stages of the Shang-Chi movie with the recent hire of director Destin Daniel Cretton. This is big news! Since the end of last year when the studio first announced this movie property and the hire of writer Dave Callaham (writer of the Expendables) who was recently pegged by Sony to script 'Into The Spider verse 2', diehard fans such as myself have been waiting for any info. Just a few days ago Asian director Destin Daniel Cretton gets the job and it seems that Marvel is following its own blueprint, like when it hired Ryan Coogler a talented black director who was hired to direct Marvels first black superhero 'Black Panther', or like when recently the studio picked female director Anna Boden to helm 'Captain Marvel'. So no surprise here an Asian director and writer for his first Asian superhero movie, absolutely perfect. Marvel Studios and its quest for diversity have absolutely done an amazing job with capturing the characters cultural integrity while still making flatout entertaining movies. Make no mistake about it, Marvel has looked into the amount of money it has generated from these untapped markets. Black Panther grossed over a billion dollars and then some worldwide, while Captain Marvel is already at $700 million in its new release, so one could only imagine what Shang-Chi could gross domestically and overseas, but in general Shang-Chi would be an awesome movie! I imagine it to play as a Bruce Lee movie on steroids, and yes it will be a martial-arts kung-fu flick with 'Avengers: Endgame' special effects. Yes many heads will explode in the theater while watching this movie for pure awesomeness!
Let's take a quick look at Shang-Chi the character himself, who is half white and half Asian who finds himself surrounded in a world of Asian mystique, crime and violence, and it doesn't hurt that he is the master of Kung-fu, which leads me into my next question. Who should play Shang-Chi. Recently Ludi Lin of 'The Power Rangers' and 'Aquaman' movie has made it clear that he would be interested in the part though I agree he would definitely do a great job, his age at 32 and his commitment to other movie properties may take him off of Marvel's wish list. Another name I hear a lot of is Rain, the popstar who is known for his role in 'Ninja Assassin'. This idea would have been epic 10 years ago but at 37 Rain is just flatout too old since Shang-Chi is between the ages of 19 and 23 in the comics. The biggest problem with Rain getting the role is that he can't speak English, that might be a big problem! So my choice and I believe Disney/Marvels choice will be Charles Melton from the hit TV show 'Riverdale' will be an upcoming star. Just like Shang-Chi he is half white and half Asian being Shang-Chi will have just about an all Asian cast, the fact that the lead actor is mixed will probably add a more mainstream American appeal to it, plus it also helps that he is in his mid 20's. Charles Melton just signed on to the new 'Bad Boys' sequel alongside Will Smith. Marvel also has a track record of grabbing actors before they become big names so look for the studio to lock Melton up to a multi picture deal. This way the studio can develop their own stars at a reasonable price. Overall I am excited and I can't wait for more Shang-Chi movie announcements. Please check out my video below and please leave your thoughts in the comment section and until next time peace!! -GAB