Xu Shang-Chi ( ; ) is a fictional character portrayed by Simu Liu in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) multimedia franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. In the franchise, Shang-Chi is the son of Ying Li, the guardian of the mystical village of Ta Lo and Wenwu, the founder and first leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization. Trained to be a highly skilled martial artist and assassin by his father, alongside his sister Xialing, Shang-Chi left the Ten Rings for a normal life in San Francisco, only to be drawn back into the world he left behind when Wenwu seeks him out. After traveling to his mother's home of Ta Lo and confronting his father, Shang-Chi is bequeathed Wenwu's ten rings and together with the Great Protector, the dragon and guardian of Ta Lo, they join forces to face a great demon known as the Dweller-in-Darkness.
Shang-Chi has been noted as being the first Asian superhero to lead a large-budget film, and Liu's portrayal has been positively received. He first appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) and is set to return in Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Alternate versions of the character appeared in the third season of What If...? (2024) and Marvel Zombies (2025).
Concept and creation The character was conceived in late 1972 by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin. Marvel Comics had wished to acquire the rights to adapt the Kung Fu television program, but were denied permission by Warner Communications, who was also the owner of Marvel's primary rival, DC Comics. Instead, Marvel acquired the comic book rights to Sax Rohmer's pulp villain Dr. Fu Manchu. Englehart and Starlin developed Shang-Chi, a master of kung fu, who was introduced as a previously unknown son of Fu Manchu. Though an original character himself, many of Shang-Chi's supporting characters were Rohmer creations. Starlin left the series after #17 (replaced by Paul Gulacy) and Englehart after #19 (replaced by Doug Moench). No characters from the Kung Fu television series were officially included in the comic series, though in the #19 issue the character Lu Sun bore such a strong resemblance to Kwai Chang Caine that to avoid copyright issues, the character was given a mustache throughout the issue. With artist Paul Gulacy, Shang-Chi's visual appearance was modeled after that of Bruce Lee. According to Englehart, his name was influenced by his study of the I-Ching, composed of 升 (shēng) meaning "ascending" and chi meaning vital energy.
Shang-Chi first appeared in Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973). He appeared again in issue #16, and with issue #17 (April 1974) the title was changed to The Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu. Amidst the martial arts craze in the United States in the 1970s, the book became very popular, surviving until issue #125 (June 1983), a run including four giant-size issues and an annual. In the comics, Shang-Chi is raised by his father Dr. Fu Manchu to be the ultimate assassin for the would-be world conqueror. After learning Fu Manchu's evil nature, Shang-Chi swears eternal opposition to his father's ambitions and fights him as a force for good. As the result of Marvel later losing the rights to the Rohmer estate, Fu Manchu was later renamed Zheng Zu. Starlin, who was previously unfamiliar with Fu Manchu until Larry Hama informed him of the racist nature of the Rohmer novels, attributed his early departure from the series due to his embarrassment over the revelation. In the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, a version of Shang-Chi resides in the wuxia-inspired K'un-Lun region of Battleworld. In this continuity, he is the exiled son of Emperor Zheng Zu, master of the Ten Rings, a ruthless martial arts clan that uses mystical powers and techniques based on the powers of the Mandarin's ten rings from the mainstream continuity.Master of Kung Fu (vol. 2) #1–4 (2015)
According to Ed Brubaker, the copyright issue was one of the reasons for using the Mandarin as Shang-Chi's father. In the main continuity, the Mandarin had a son called Temugin who was trained in a monastery in martial arts and philosophy, his name is inspired by the real name of Genghis Khan, ancestor of the Mandarin.
According to Margaret Loesch, former president and CEO of Marvel Productions, in the 1980s Stan Lee approached Brandon Lee to play Shang-Chi for a movie or television series starring the character. In 2001, a Shang-Chi film entered development at DreamWorks Pictures but after failing to materialize by 2004, the rights to the character were reverted to Marvel. In 2004, David Maisel was hired as chief operating officer of Marvel Studios as he had a plan for the studio to self-finance movies. Marvel entered into a non-recourse debt structure with Merrill Lynch, under which Marvel got $525 million to make a maximum of 10 movies based on the company's properties over eight years, collateralized by certain movie rights to a total of 10 characters, including Shang-Chi. Following the successes of Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians (both 2018), Marvel fast-tracked development of a Shang-Chi film, hiring David Callaham in December 2018 to write the screenplay and Destin Daniel Cretton to direct in March 2019. Cretton also contributed to Callaham's screenplay. Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu, who had previously expressed interest in the role, was cast as Shang-Chi in July 2019, which was publicly announced by Cretton and Kevin Feige days later, along with the film's full title to be Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. After he was cast, Liu was called by Feige, saying that Liu's life was "about to change", having previously petitioning for the role since December 2018.
Characterization
Appearances Liu first appeared as the character in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). He is set to reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026), and the animated series Marvel Zombies (2025).
Inspirations and dispelling stereotypes Both being of Asian descent, Cretton and Callaham were cognizant of some of the racial stereotypes surrounding Shang-Chi in the comics, with Liu saying everyone involved was "very sensitive to not have it go into stereotypical territory". Cretton believed the resulting script for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a "really beautiful update" to the character from what began in the comics, and was an authentic story about Asian identity. Callaham added that there is "no single Asian American voice", and he and Cretton contemplated how the film could speak to "the wider Asian diaspora" and would be "exciting and entertaining, but also personal to all these people". Cretton likened Shang-Chi to Will Hunting from Good Will Hunting (1997), who is a "mixture of masculinity and vulnerability", noting both characters had secrets and superpowers they do not understand while Liu believed that Shang-Chi's struggles with identity were the core of the character, rather than his martial arts skills.
When he was contacted to portray the role, Liu wanted the film to "allow society to see Asian men as powerful, desirable and an aspiration of possibility". Liu used experiences as a child battling stereotypes and microaggressions as being relatable to Shang-Chi's character arc of coming to terms with his heritage. He also sought to dispel stereotypes originating from Bruce Lee films in the 1970s that all Asian men know martial arts, making it clear in an Instagram caption that "Asian actors don't just do kung fu; but Shang-Chi does. It's one of the many things that flesh out his personality, but it's easily the most challenging from a physical perspective". Despite knowing little about the character at first, Liu was reassured early in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringss production that "it was very clear from the get-go that [Cretton] was committed to telling an origin story of a hero [that] was not stereotypical, not a trope, who was fully three-dimensional and had a fully modernized origin story. In addition to Bruce Lee he also cited Jet Li as one of his inspirations when approaching the character.
Character journey and fighting style Shang-Chi leaves the Ten Rings organization for a normal life in San Francisco, with director Destin Daniel Cretton characterizing Shang-Chi as a fish out of water in the U.S. who attempts to hide that with his charisma, and does not know "who he really is". Shang-Chi changes his name to "Shaun" while living in San Francisco. Of Shang-Chi's decision to live a normal life, Liu found that "what he does is a little bit extreme. And it's also because he was raised under very extreme circumstances...I can't really fault him from taking extreme measures to get out of that situation." Cretton described Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as "a journey of stepping into who [Shang-Chi] is and what he's meant to be in this world". Since the character does not wear a mask, Liu performed many of his own stunts, having to work on his flexibility ahead of filming to do so. Liu also put on of muscle for the role. Liu was knowledgeable in taekwondo, gymnastics, and Wing Chun, and learned and trained in tai chi, wushu, Muay Thai, silat, Krav Maga, jiu-jitsu, boxing, and street fighting for the film. Liu called the process of training and performing stunts to be "exhausting. there were a lot of grueling hours...but it was one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life." Jayden Zhang and Arnold Sun portray Shang-Chi as a child and as a teenager, respectively.
For an early sequence in the film where Shang-Chi fights off assassins from the Ten Rings, Cretton took heavy inspiration from the works of Jackie Chan, working closely with choreographers Brad Allan and Andy Cheng, who were both trained in Chan's stunt team. Cretton stated that his favorite moment of the sequence was "The jacket stunt...when he's able to take his jacket off, spin it around and throw his jacket back on. It's a straight nod to Jackie Chan from the stunt team of Jackie Chan."
Fictional character biography Early life
Xu Shang-Chi was born to Xu Wenwu, the ancient leader of the Ten Rings organization, and Ying Li, a guardian of the mystical village of Ta Lo in an adjacent universe. Shang-Chi's childhood was blissful, with his father renouncing his criminal ways to spend time with his family and his mother entertaining him and his sister Xialing with tales of her village. When Li is murdered by the Iron Gang, old rivals of the Ten Rings, Wenwu takes up his mystical ten rings and takes Shang-Chi with him to the Iron Gang's hideout, where he proceeds to brutally massacre the gang. Wenwu reactivates the Ten Rings organization and has Shang-Chi trained in martial arts as an assassin under the brutal tutelage of Death Dealer. At the age of 14, Shang-Chi is sent on a mission to kill the Iron Gang's leader and avenge his mother. Despite his success, Shang-Chi is traumatized by the ordeal and flees to San Francisco to assume a new life, adopting the name "Shaun". He leaves his younger sister Xialing behind with his father. While attending high school, Shang-Chi befriended Katy, establishing a close friendship into adulthood.
Confronting his past and bequeathing the Ten Rings