Marvel president Kevin Feige has addressed a number of concerns that have been voiced by Chinese audiences ahead of the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
As reported by Variety, Feige participated in an interview with Chinese film critic Raymond Zhou during the U.S. Shang-Chi premiere this week, in which he responded to some of China's biggest gripes surrounding the MCU feature and assured fans that careful consideration had been given on the road to taking the comics to the big screen.
In particular, Feige stressed that the upcoming Phase 4 movie doesn't feature Fu Manchu, a character who serves as Shang-Chi's father and primary nemesis in the comics who has been on the receiving end of backlash for years, with many seeing the character as a racially insensitive caricature. Feige confirmed he doesn't appear "in any way, shape or form."
"[Fu Manchu] is not a character we own or would ever want to own. It was changed in the comics many, many, many years ago. We never had any intention of [having him] in this movie," Feige emphasized, adding: "Definitively, Fu Manchu is not in this movie, is not Shang-Chi's father, and again, is not even a Marvel character, and hasn't been for decades."
Instead of Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi's father in the movie is Wenwu, portrayed by Tony Leung. As explained in a recent featurette, our titular hero will find himself returning to his father's world after running away in his youth, which is quite a different story to the one sometimes told in the comics that sees the character abandon his Chinese roots to embrace the West.
"That's certainly one of the elements we've changed," Feige stated, reassuring potential moviegoers. "All of our comics go back 60, 70, 80 years. Almost everything has happened in almost every comic, and we chose the elements that we like to turn into an MCU feature. So that story is not what this is about.
"That sense of running away… is presented as one of his flaws," he added, noting the narrative change. "It is a flaw to run away to the West and to hide from his legacy and his family — that's how the movie is presented. And how he will face that and overcome that is part of what the story's about."
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set for a wide theatrical release on September 3. The movie doesn't yet have a release date in China despite it being an important market for movies, with its box office previously taking $629 million for Avengers: Endgame, making it the country's highest-grossing foreign film ever, plus the sixth-largest earner overall.
For more on the MCU film, get a glimpse of the movie's dragon character in the latest poster, check out our explainer on Shang-Chi himself, and if the Ten Rings are actually magical.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
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As reported by Variety, Feige participated in an interview with Chinese film critic Raymond Zhou during the U.S. Shang-Chi premiere this week, in which he responded to some of China's biggest gripes surrounding the MCU feature and assured fans that careful consideration had been given on the road to taking the comics to the big screen.
In particular, Feige stressed that the upcoming Phase 4 movie doesn't feature Fu Manchu, a character who serves as Shang-Chi's father and primary nemesis in the comics who has been on the receiving end of backlash for years, with many seeing the character as a racially insensitive caricature. Feige confirmed he doesn't appear "in any way, shape or form."
"[Fu Manchu] is not a character we own or would ever want to own. It was changed in the comics many, many, many years ago. We never had any intention of [having him] in this movie," Feige emphasized, adding: "Definitively, Fu Manchu is not in this movie, is not Shang-Chi's father, and again, is not even a Marvel character, and hasn't been for decades."
Instead of Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi's father in the movie is Wenwu, portrayed by Tony Leung. As explained in a recent featurette, our titular hero will find himself returning to his father's world after running away in his youth, which is quite a different story to the one sometimes told in the comics that sees the character abandon his Chinese roots to embrace the West.
"That's certainly one of the elements we've changed," Feige stated, reassuring potential moviegoers. "All of our comics go back 60, 70, 80 years. Almost everything has happened in almost every comic, and we chose the elements that we like to turn into an MCU feature. So that story is not what this is about.
"That sense of running away… is presented as one of his flaws," he added, noting the narrative change. "It is a flaw to run away to the West and to hide from his legacy and his family — that's how the movie is presented. And how he will face that and overcome that is part of what the story's about."
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set for a wide theatrical release on September 3. The movie doesn't yet have a release date in China despite it being an important market for movies, with its box office previously taking $629 million for Avengers: Endgame, making it the country's highest-grossing foreign film ever, plus the sixth-largest earner overall.
For more on the MCU film, get a glimpse of the movie's dragon character in the latest poster, check out our explainer on Shang-Chi himself, and if the Ten Rings are actually magical.
Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Continue reading...