Marvel Promises that Upcoming ‘Shang-Chi’ Movie Will Feature a Primarily Asian Cast

With a new decade just beginning Marvel and Disney have made a resolution to be more diverse in casting their movies, and just recently Screen Rant reported that Marvel will be working on this promise with their upcoming super hero movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. And while the movie Black Panther received massive amounts of praise for its mostly black cast many critics have pointed out that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been struggling to include Asian and Latino characters. Marvel was also heavily criticized for casting white actress Tilda Swinton in the role of the Ancient One, who in the comics is usually depicted as a Tibetan man, in the movie Doctor Strange.

However Marvel’s president Kevin Feige claims that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will feature cast that will be 98% Asian. The titular hero Shang-Chi is going to be played by Hong Kong actor Simu Liu. According to Den of Geek Tony Leung is going to play the Mandarin, but this character is not going to be related to the version of the Mandarin that Ben Kingsley played in Iron Man 3. Apparently Leung will be playing the “real” Mandarin. Actress Awkwafina also has a role in the movie, but currently nothing is known about her character.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and it is expected to come out in winter of 2021.