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Marshalling art for diversity in superhero film Marshalling art for diversity in superhero film ESTIN Daniel Cretton never wanted “The most exciting thing about step­ I Bto make a Marvel movie. The 42- ping into this character was that his back- year-old director built his career on sioiy has never been (old before," Liu says. quiet, introspective dramas like Short “We know so many different versions of Term 12, The Glass Castle and Just Mercy - Batman's origin stoiy, how his parents not exactly your typical superhero specta­ were murdered when he was young. We cle. He remembers telling friends that he know Peter Parker, who was bitten by a ra­ Above, anti-clockwise from bottom ieR: had no desire to join the world of capes dioactive spider and he loses his uncle. Cretton is seen with Liu, Leung and and comic book heroes - until he read a “ShangZhi's story is vciy much un­ Awkafina who feature prominently in his 2018 report that Marvel was developing known to most of the world, so we had a coming Marvel movie. ^Shang-Chi, will be Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten lot of freedom and creative liberty to make the first of the company's films with an Rings, its first film with an Asian protago­ it the way that we wanted to." Asian lead (Liu, left in the title super­ nist. He may not be a household name yet hero's crime-fighting gear). “When that announcement came out, I like his fellow heroes Iron Man or Captain just went instantly back to my childhood," America but the idea of making a Shang- character was amazing," Liu says. "But at mensional villain with no heart,“ Cretton , Cretton drew inspiration Cretton explains. "Growing up all I had Chi movie is older tlian the Marvel Cine­ the same time, there are aspects of that says. "Tony opened this character up [so| from various sources, from the elegant, al­ was Spider-Man. Because he had the mask matic Universe itself. Created by Steve En- portrayal of him (hat maybe could feel a (his is an antagonist who has a deep ability most ethereal wushu style of Crouching on, I could dress up like Spider-Man for glehan and Jim Starlin, the kung fu master little stereotypical. to love." Wenwn and Shang-Chi's onscreen Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the more kinetic Halloween, [ had a handful of other char­ made his comics debut in 1973 as a way for “So, when we Arst started to map out relationship is complicated, but off cam­ choreography of Jackie Chan's action- acters that looked like me on screen, bul Marvel to capitalise on martial arts stories' who this character was and what his jour­ era, Leung and Liu became fast friends, comedics. Supervising stunt coordinator there were maybe two or three that I could popular with American audiences. Stan ney was going to be over the course of this bonding over snowboarding. MHe's a huge Brad Allan was tapped to help unify choose from and superheroes were not a Lee reportedly tried to develop a Shang- film, we were all very sensitive to not have adrenaline junkie," Liu says of his cine­ Shang-Chi's various styles and schools of part of that. Chi film starring Brandon Lee as early as it go into stereotypical territory." matic dad. expertise. Cretton - who was born in Hawaii and the 1980s. but the project never materi­ Cretton says he wanted to tell a story Wenwu is a new character, created en­ For Liu. that meant throwing himself is of Japanese descent - kept thinking alised. In the early 2000s, the then-nascent about Asian identity that felt as lived-in tirely for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. into iraining: The actor jokes that unlike about how his younger self would've re­ Marvel Studios started to assemble a note­ and authentic as possible - part of which He has ties to the Ten Rings, the mysterious some of his Marvel cohorts, Shang-Chi's acted to a superhero movie with a pre­ book of comic characters who could po­ involved making sure Shang-Chi had terrorist organization first name-dropped face is never obscured by a mask, so he had dominantly Asian cast So, he set a meet­ tentially headline their own films - a note­ Asian voices both in front of and behind in 2008's Iron Man. As Schwartz and Feige to learn to do as many ofhis own stunts as ing with Marvel. book that included Shang-Chi. the camera. put it, Wenwu has "gone by many names” possible. Almost as soon as he walked off “That's usually not the way director Now. after a history 送 false starts, the "Remember, the Asian culture is so di­ throughout the decades — and one of the stage at Comic-Con in 2019, he began meetings start, by you saying 'You know I martial arts master is finally getting his verse," he says. "I grew up in Hawaii, |and| (hose titles is "the Mandarin," one of Mar­ practicing different forms of martial arts was never interested in doing one of turn in the spotlight. Hawaiian food is like Chinese, Japanese, vel Comics' most infamous villains. That and trying to bulk up without losing these'," Marvel studios Kevin Feige says “The core of Shang-Chi's are in the Korean, Hawaiian, Filipino, all mixed to­ name previously popped up in 2013's Iron Shang-Chi's flexibility and agility. "I want with a laugh. That Marvel meeting turned comics is really a family drama," says pro­ gether. That is kind of what our crew was: Man 3, only for that version of the charac­ to sit here and tell you that I was pretty into another, then another, until before ducer Johnathan Schwartz. "That was it's like this big mix of Asian cultures com­ ter (played by Ben Kingsley) to be revealed good at martial arts before," Liu admits. "I long Cretton was standing in front of something that Destin keyed into really ing together and responding to the script as a fraud, an out-of-work actor named had maybe worked a few days as a stunt­ thousands of fans at 2019's San Diego early on in our conversations, the idea of and [saying things] like, 'Oh, that doesn't Trevor Slattery. Leung's Wenwu is some­ man in Toronto. But real martial arts Comic-Con, introducing the world to the taking this broken family and this really feel quite right.' All of that helped con­ thing new — and far more dangerous. ping in my kind of hero his childhood self had only dark, even abusive family background and tribute to what I think is a really beautiful "I think people hear'the Mandarin' and yard when 1 was a teenager and doing dreamed of. seeing what that does to a child overtime." update to what started in (he comics a few expect a very specific kind of thing, and parkour with my friends." The result is Shang-Chi, a sweeping su­ Bringing Shang-Chi into the MCU also decades ago." (hat may not be the thing they're getting," But even with all the high-flying perhero epic that combines emotional meant updating some of his dated origins. "It was a level of Asian representation Schwartz teases. "They're hopefully getting fu action, Cretton always wanted (o family drama with gravity-defying martial The character's backstory from the comics that I haven't seen, and I thought it was a more complex and layered take on the Shang-Chi grounded—and make a super­ arcs action. Chinese-Canadian actor Simu has shifted through the years, and Cretton cool as an Asian American to watch," adds character than that name would lead you hero movie his younger self would've Liu stars as the young hero, who spent the and writer Dave Callahain were eager to Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina, who to." loved. first part of his life training to become an dispense with some of the early racially in­ plays Shang-Chi's close friend Katy. "It def­ Of course, you can't make a movie “We wanted to make sure that Shang- assassin under his father's strict tutelage. sensitive cliches. initely explores different levels of identily." about the most skilled fighter in the world Chi was just like any of us," Cretton ex­ He's since walked away and tried to build "When you look at the character of When it came time to cast the charm­ without choreographing some pretty elab­ plains. ”【want to watch this movie and a somewhat normal life in America, only Shang-Chi through the comic books going ing hero, Man'el launched a global search orate flghts. "I think this is the best action say, 'Yes, that's how I feel. I feel out of place to find himself sucked back into his fa­ back to the '70s and '80s, the fact that he for an actor of Chinese descent. They I Man-el has| ever done." Schwartz says. sometimes, and I cover it up with humor., ther's sinister domain. existed and the fact that he was an Asian found him in the 31-year-old Liu, best "Every punch is meaningful, every fighting He's a kid who is out ofhis element and a known for his role as Jung Kim on the s"le is meaningful, and the story is told vi­ fish out of water here in the US, and he's beloved Canadian sitcom Kim's Conven­ sually in such a great way." Because Shang- covering it up with this charisma that I ience. The actor had long dreamed of suit­ Chi is a master at several different types of find veiy relatable." - By Devan Coogan ing up as a superhero — to the point where he was tweeting at Marvel as early as 2014, hoping to see an Asian-American hero join the franchise. When Shang-Chi was actu­ ally announced, he followed up with an­ other tweet: UOK Marvel, are we gonna talk or what?" “What was definitely not going through my head was, 'Hey, I'm going to tweet Marvel and they're going to get back to me, and I'm going to get this role,'" he says now, laughing. To his surprise, he ac­ tually received an invite to audition — and after officially landing the role in July 2019, he was on a plane just a few days later, headed to San Diego to join Cretton at Comic-Con. When the film starts, Shang-Chi nounced like "song," not -sang")is in San Francisco as a seemingly ord . , twentysomething. He's a bit directionless, and he spends most of his time hanging out with friends, like Awkwafina's Katy. She's one ofhis closest confidants, but she doesn't know much about his history or why he's no longer in touch with his par­ ents. And she's definitely unfamiliar with the action-packed world of assassins and kung fu masters. "She doesn't do a lot of the heavy lift­ ing," Awkwafina says. **But at the end of the day, she has a real heart, and she has a loyalty and dedication to her friendship with Shang-Chi. She's super brave." Shang-Chi's current life may seem aver­ age, but his past is anything but: His father Wenwu is a powerful, ancient figure who trained his son to follow in his criminal footsteps. It's been about 10 years since Shang-Chi learned of his dad's misdeeds and walked away. "This is not a 'Luke, I am your father' twist," Feige adds. "He knows who his father is, and he's decided to leave that world behind before he's pulled back into it" To play the master villain, the filmmak­ ers tapped legendary actor Tony Leung, known for films like Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express. "A character like Wenwu could have easily been a one-di­