‘Shang-Chi’ Was Released One Year Ago Today
With the breakneck speeds that have become synonymous with the MCU, a film that was released not long ago already feels rather distant from what’s happening right now, and that is very much that case as, although it certainly doesn’t feel like it, Shang-Chi was released one year ago today.
It was a project that introduced one of the most interesting and intriguing new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and did so while fleshing out one of the biggest mysteries that have faced the MCU since its earliest entry.
Photo: Marvel Studios
While Phase Four has seemingly been a practice in inconsistency for the MCU, it has also been the birthplace of some of Marvel Studios’ most interesting risks, and most fruitful endeavors on the back of those risks; creating some instant icons.
Although projects like Eternals, and Thor: Love and Thunder, may not have had the critical reception or financial success that Marvel and the MCU had hoped for, one of the earliest successes of the phase itself had many fans expecting great things from those projects that ultimately disappointed.
Directing Simu Liu (Shang-Chi). Photo: Marvel Studios
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings were officially released one year ago today, and with it, the incredible duo of director Destin Daniel Cretton- a talent that has seemingly found a home with Marvel- and Simu Liu turn the underutilized Marvel hero into a character that is destined for stardom.
The film presented what was by far the greatest villain of Phase Four, ahead of the incredibly talented and devious arrivals of Wanda in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, or Thor’s run-ni with Christian Bale’s tremendous Gorr the God Butcher.
Photo: Marvel Studios
What Mandarin was to Shang-Chi made the story immensely personal for both characters, and its patient pacing, incredible action, and commitment to the heart of these characters primed audiences for a true epic of love, loss, revenge, and growth; something that crafted an instant classic for the MCU.
As we look back on the film on its one-year anniversary, there is no denying that due to some of the extenuating circumstances surrounding its release, it may well be one of Marvel’s most underrated works to date.
Shang-Chi Poster by artist @CryssyCheung. Photo: Marvel Entertainment
