How Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, Knocked Down Stereotypes

The Marvel superhero originated in comics filled with racist tropes. The creators of the new film made a list of the preconceptions they were up against and set out to conquer them.

In the pantheon of Marvel superheroes, there’s Spider-Man and Iron Man and Captain America and … Shang-Chi? Admittedly one of the lesser known players in the comic company’s roster, Shang-Chi, a.k.a. the Master of Kung Fu, wasn’t even familiar to many of the creators that Disney and Marvel Studios hired a couple of years ago to bring the character to cinematic life. Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which premieres Friday, had never even heard of the character when he was growing up. Nor had the Canadian actor Simu Liu (“Kim’s Convenience”), who plays Shang-Chi in the film.