"We’ve wanted to make that movie for a long time"
Comic Book reports that Marvel Studio’s upcoming superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will feature a 98% Asian cast.
Starring Kim’s Convenience lead Simu Liu, Crazy Rich Asians actress Awkwafina and Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung, the film is Marvel Studios’ first Asian-led movie.
Staying true to the comics, Shang-Chi will feature Chinese martial arts but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said the film will be “so much more than a Kung Fu movie.”
Appearing as a guest speaker at the New York Film Academy, where Feige revealed that Shang-Chi will have a predominantly Asian cast.
“Like Shang-Chi, we’ve wanted to make that movie for a long time,” he said. “We want to make a movie with a 98% Asian cast.And then you talk about, as you develop the movie, what other heroes can you bring into it, if you need them? And in the case of Black Panther [in Captain America: Civil War], it was the greatest thing that ever happened.”
“Shang-Chi is gonna be so much more than a Kung Fu movie,” Feige added. “But it has elements of that, which we’re excited about.”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opens February 12, 2021.
In related news, Liu recently stated that Shang-Chi “could change the world”.