FAQ

Shang-Chi is a Marvel Comics character that was created in the 1970s and was the first Asian character from that publisher to headline his own solo series in "The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu."

In his original conception, using a property license from the estate of author Sax Rohmer, Shang-Chi is the son of the notorious Chinese would-be world conqueror, Fu Manchu. Raised to be his father's naively loyal minion and assassin, Shang-Chi met Manchu's sworn enemy, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, on a mission and learned from him the evil true nature of his father. Profoundly revolted by this discovery, Shang-Chi dedicated his life to stopping his father as part of British Intelligence.

Eventually, the license to Sax Rohmer's literary creations lapsed and Shang-Chi's association with Fu Manchu has been firmly downplayed and rewritten. Thus, the Iron Man supervillain, The Mandarin, who was an obvious Fu Manchu imitation in his original conception, will be depicted in the equivalent role in the film, allowing him to finally be openly used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise considering his presence will be counterbalanced by an Asian hero. Shang-Chi in Marvel Comics now appears in sporadic limited series and guest appearances in various series doing things such as training superheroes like Spider-Man during a time when his Spider-Sense was not working and fighting as a member of the Avengers.

His abilities include a mastery of various martial arts to the point that he is considered the best hand-to-hand combat expert in the Marvel Universe on the basis of skill alone. This is contrasted with other skilled fighters in the Marvel Universe have additional factors in their favor like Captain America with his Project Rebirth body enhancements, Black Panther's heart shaped herb abilities, Iron Fist's flashy Chi affinity and superpowered heroes like Spider-Man and Daredevil. Regardless, even with his normal human attributes, Shang-Chi is so effective with his skills that he has taken on super-powered opponents like the Thing of the Fantastic Four and proved more than a match.