Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,
the new arc of the superhero franchise following the epic conclusion that was “Avengers:
Endgame,” technically has already begun. The streaming series that have started
on Disney+, namely “WandaVision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” are
part of MCU Phase 4, and they became the first salvo because the primary
components, the films, could not premiere because cinemas were closed by the
COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. Now, no less than four MCU Phase 4 films are
expected to premiere this 2021. The second of these just got a trailer released
this past Monday.
Comic Book Resources tells us that Marvel Studios has revealed the
first trailer for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the second MCU
Phase 4 film after “Black Widow” starring Scarlett Johannson. Simu Liu stars as
Shang-Chi, first introduced on Marvel Comics in 1973 as the Master of Kung Fu.
Trained in the martial arts and assassination since childhood, Shang-Chi would
turn against the ambitions of his father, originally the caricature Chinese
villain Fu Manchu before Marvel altered the backstory retroactively to make him
an original character. This origin is featured in the trailer, but with ties to
another stereotypically Oriental Marvel baddie originally opposed to Iron Man.
The trailer begins with Liu’s
Shang-Chi in an Oriental-style home, reminiscing as he examines a Kung Fu
training post with a visible punch mark. Following this are intercut scenes of
a young Shang-Chi undergoing harsh training under a masked instructor, and an
older him living a simple life as a manual worker in San Francisco, making
friends and scraping enough to go by. All the while the sinister voice of
Shang-Chi’s father Wenwu/Mandarin (Tony Leung) disparages his son’s lifestyle
and bids him to return to his side with the malevolent secret society, the Ten
Rings.
And of course being a Kung Fu
superhero film, “Shang-Chi” delivers the goods with the main character fighting
foes mundane, technological and supernatural. Through his misadventures he is
accompanied by his co-worker Katy (Awkwafina) who finds the guts to help her friend
even as out of her depth as she is. Director Destin Daniel Cretton delivers some
pretty good personal interactions combined with slick Wire-Fu martial arts
action and MCU CGI spectacle, where one will believe that a “normal” man with
nothing but his Kung Fu mastery can stand toe to toe with super beings.
Also starring Michelle Yeoh, Fala
Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu (“Creed II”) and Ronny Chieng, “Shang-Chi
and the Legend of the Ten Rings” premieres this September 3 after “Black Widow”
which comes out July 9.
Image courtesy of Vanity Fair
0 comments:
Post a Comment