I’m super duper pumped about the recent addition to the “Phase 4” of Marvel’s cinematic universe, they’ll indeed be introducing none other than Shang Chi: The Master of Kung Fu to audiences around the globe! This really did kinda catch me by surprise, I mean who’d have ever thought Shang-Chi would get his own blockbuster film? I understand the Black Panther, as he’s easily in my opinion, one of Marvel’s most iconic, at least to any real collector of superhero comics. He’s a legend. However Shang-Chi (who as a kid I was a collector of his titles) is a pretty obscure character whom I never thought got enough credit. He’s been around though since the early 70’s and was Marvel’s direct reaction to the popularity of Bruce Lee.

Now in 2018 Shang-Chi once again has an advantage, as Marvel searches for it’s next big hit, cashing in at the box office on diversity in their movies, they’re aiming at lightning striking again with a movie that features an all Asian cast & director in a similar fashion as the Black Panther. I’d have been more impressed honestly if Marvel had introduced The Black Panther movie years before it’s release in 2018, but it seemed like they waited until the right time though to make as much money as possible with diversity being a hot topic. That being said better late than never for The Black Panther and now Shang-Chi I guess.

So being a fan of the greatest martial artist in the MCU I’m hoping they do indeed pull this one off and pull the character into the A-List category! What do we want from a “Master of Kung Fu” movie? Well how about the exact opposite of what we got from the Iron Fist series? This movie needs to bring on a superhuman kung fu spectacle unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Iron Fist was a giant disappointment, it’s terrible fight sequences/choreography, mixed with it’s ultra bland plot & unappealing lead character made for a truly tough series to sit that many hours through. Shang-Chi should be a full on action adventure movie, something like a mix up of Indiana Jones & Enter The Dragon but with the most insane martial arts battles put to screen, To pull this off they need someone who’s a true veteran to do the choreography/directing duties like Wilson Yip of the ‘Ip Man’ franchise or the legendary Sammo Hung.

The movie needs to be a true kung fu spectacle, I think in this case I’d really like to see the majority of it pulled off with minimal CGI. One thing that really was a bummer in the Black Panther movie was how bad the CGI was, that final showdown with T’Challa and Killmonger was some of the worst CG I’ve ever seen in modern movies. I’d much rather have seen two real dudes in Panther suits doing some real stunts, fighting in action sequences. Shang-Chi needs to feel real and the fights can’t be a bunch of rubbery looking digital creations “battling” each other on the big screen. Let’s get a star who’s actually got the skills to wow audiences and let’s have some real creative choreography in the fight sequences. I at least enjoyed that the Marvel Netflix stuff did for the most part feel like real people in actual real fights. This could make or break the movie all together I think. 

So who exactly could be cast in the role of Shang-Chi? That’s the million dollar question, I guess it’d come down to who’s the break out kung fu star right now making waves in martial arts movie genre. I see there are several websites already making casting predictions, most however are choosing actors with no real Martial Arts skills, I think for this one you really need someone who can truly deliver the action for real, we don’t want another Finn Jones style thing being attempted again! Here are two who come to mind that I think could wow audiences with their skills.

Max Zhang:

Phillip Ng:

Who else comes to mind? Some great additions to the cast would be the likes of Donnie Yen, Tony Jaa & Sammo Hung!!

As far as villains Shang-Chi has some good ones, a few I’d like to see are Razor Fist, a truly bizarre villain from his early comics who’s also one of Wolverine’s enemies.

Shadow Stalker is another one who’s a total weirdo that’d be a great one to see come to life on the big screen.  

Fu Manchu, his evil father and one of his greatest foes, this guy will likely be the big bad guy, he however likely would need a makeover for today’s audiences…

How about the Zaran, who faced Shang-Chi several times, he’d at least be a cool henchman to add to the movie.

Well that’s my two cents worth at the moment regarding this new announcement, but it’ll be interesting to see what unfolds for this movie, whatever the case I’m hoping it sets the standard for big screen kung fu movies and gives the audience something truly unique added to the MCU! What do you think?