Shang-Chi’s MCU Change Finally Made His Comics Worth Reading
Dozens of Marvel Comics characters such asShang-Chi have become household names thanks to the proliferation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With several of its films grossing over one billion dollars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most lucrative media franchises in history. Its success in cinemas and on the small screen has had a ripple effect on Marvel's current comics landscape, as some details of its characters have been changed to better match their MCU counterparts. And while this has been contentious for some characters such as Ms. Marvel, for Shang-Chi, his changes for the MCU have vastly improved his comics.
Debuting in Special Marvel Edition #15 from 1973 by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, and Al Milgrom, Shang-Chi was the mixed race son of the villainous Fu Manchu, a massively racist figure in pop culture that was representative of white Americans' anxieties about Asian people. Raised by his father to be a living weapon, Shang-Chi discovers the full extent of his father's evil plans for world domination in his debut, prompting him to betray him and become a hero. That said, Shang-Chi's status as a hero is repeatedly questioned because of his Chinese background, making it a character flaw that is very uncomfortable to read. In contrast, the MCU's Shang-Chi was also trained from birth to be a martial artist, his father, Xu Wenwu, was a nuanced figure whose criminal empire was something he was trying to leave behind.
Related: Marvel's Shang-Chi Represents The Evolution of American Comics
In the lead-up to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' release, Marvel published a new series for Shang-Chi by writer Gene Luen Yang, Dike Ruan, Philip Tan, and Sebastian Cheng which delved into the hero's
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