As seen in the first teaser footage,Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsdirector Destin Daniel Cretton has revealed the inspiration behind the upcoming MCU outing’s fight scenes, and it’s sure to have martial arts fans very excited. Cretton name-dropped both legendary movie martial artist Jackie Chan and Ang Lee’s stunning Oscar winnerCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonas the major influences on the master of kung fu.
“Authenticity and respect and staying true to this genre was the main objective from day one. There’s choreography that’s reminiscent ofCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonand 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 theMCU’s first Asian-American superherobe 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.”
The style andfight choreographybetween Jackie Chan andCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonare starkly different, with the former being more frantic and brutal if always wonderfully creative, while the latter is more poetic in its visuals and uses a lot of so-called wire fu. The fact that both will come into play in Marvel’sShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringssuggests that the story and the fights therein will likely jump between the two depending on who’s throwing down at the time.
Along with his insight into the fight sequences, a new image fromShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringswas also unveiled. Though sadly it is sorely lacking in any martial arts…
WithDestin Daniel Cretton at the helm, working from a screenplay he wrote with David Callaham and Andrew Lanham,Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsstars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi alongside Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. The MCU installment will introduce audiences to a brand-new hero and a brand-new world of assassins, fantasy and martial arts, when Shang-Chi is drawn into the clandestine Ten Rings organization and is forced to confront the past he thought he’d left behind. With added dragons, of course.
The movie is set to introduce audiences to theMarvel Cinematic Universe’s first Asian lead, something which is a matter of great importance and responsibility to director Destin Daniel Cretton, who was instantly reminded of his own experiences with comic book characters and their representation. “When that announcement came out, I just went instantly back to my childhood,” Cretton explained. “[Growing up] all I had was Spider-Man. Because he had the mask on, I could dress up like Spider-Man for Halloween. I had a handful of other characters that looked like me on screen, but there were maybe two or three that I could choose from, and superheroes were not a part of that.”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsis scheduled to bereleased in the United States on June 25, 2025, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. This comes to us courtesy ofEmpire.
