Kevin Feige Addresses China’s ‘Shang-Chi’ Backlash; Future Uncertain for Chinese Release
The origin story for Marvel’s next great hero is primed to hit theaters this weekend; with some controversy surrounding the perception of the film in the eyes of one of the world’s biggest markets, Kevin Feige addresses China’s Shang-Chi backlash.
The MCU is prepared to experience the feature film debut of Shang-Chi; a kung-fu fighting hero with a strong moral code, the Asian American character is being positioned to be a vital character to the Marvel universe for years to come.
Source: Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
The film is facing a plethora of questions, however, entering the final week before its release; with many worrying Marvel may be inadvertently setting the film up for failure, there are greater concerns beyond its Theatrical distribution model.
One of those concerns is the film’s uncertain future surrounding its Chinese release.
Source: Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
For the world’s first primarily Asian superhero, it is difficult to imagine a world in which the character isn’t fully embraced by the dominant Asian market; this, however, may end up being the case as controversy has surrounded the Chinese audience’s potential acceptance of the film.
All of this forced some sort of damage control, as Kevin Feige addresses China’s Shang-Chi backlash.
Source: Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
As reported by Variety, the producer, and Marvel Studios president spoke with Chinese film critic Raymond Zhou about the film; addressing some of the country’s reasoning for speaking out against it.
Much of the backlash, and potential boycotting, comes from the anger over a Marvel character named Fu Manchu; originally conceived as the father of Shang-Chi, Manchu was a villain whose clear intent was to be racists to the Asian community.
Source: @Shang-Chi
In relation to China’s concerned over that character, Feige stated,
[Fu Manchu] is not a character we own or would ever want to own. It was changed in teh comics many, many, many years ago. We never had any intention of [having him] in this movie.
Definitively, Fu Manchi is not in this movie, is not Shang-Chi’s father, and again, is not even a Marvel character, and han’t been for decades.
Source: Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
It is Marvels hope that Feige’s public speaking out against the character, assurance that the character no longer exists within the pantheon of Marvel, and the presence of Marvel legend Mandarin as Shang-Chi’s actual father, will help to regain the Chinese audience;
t is unclear if this will be the case, as indiewire.com has reported that the film has no Chinese release date, and still has yet to be approved by Chinese censorship for release within the country.
Source: Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
The Chinese market has long been the second-biggest consumer of film in the world and overtook North America as the largest during the pandemic-ridden 2020.
Getting Chinese fans to embrace and support this film is vital to the success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Marvel needs to regain the trust of this market if they have any hope for the film to continue undeniable MCU track record.
Source: Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
