Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is less than three months away from being released in theaters, and director Destin Daniel Cretton recently caught up with Empire to tease his plans for the hero (while also sharing a new still of the title character you can take a look at below).
"Authenticity and respect and staying true to this genre was the main objective from day one," the filmmaker explains. "There’s choreography that’s reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and other fight scenes are inspired by Jackie Chan. We also had choreographers from mainland China who created some beautiful wuxia-style fight scenes."
"It was important for us from the beginning to have the MCU’s first Asian-American superhero be a superhero. We want him to be on par with other superheroes in the MCU and not just be the master of kung fu. Shang-Chi is an incredible martial artist, but he’s so much more than that."
It sounds like the Short Term 12 and Just Mercy director has a great handle on how best to portray Shang-Chi on screen, and we're obviously hoping that more from the movie will be revealed soon.
In related news, we have a new, low-res clip from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings featuring more action-packed footage from the movie. This has been shown exclusively in theaters, and it's a great sign that Cretton has also mastered the fight sequences.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to be released in theaters on September 3, 2021.