Marvel’s first female-led superhero flick, Captain Marvel, just exploded at the box office in its first week, and now the studio has tapped director Destin Daniel Cretton for their first Asian-led film, Shang-Chi.
Cretton is a great person for the role of director, as he already has a handful of connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after directing Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson in Short Term 12 and The Glass Castle. Additionally, he’s worked on other pieces with Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan of Black Panther.
Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ Sets Director Destin Daniel Cretton https://t.co/QMbDNnmQia
— Lawrence Li (@lawrencexli) March 15, 2019
The word got out at the end of 2018 that the comic book giants were working on a film about the Chinese martial arts hero. Shang-Chi is known as the Master of Kung Fu in the Marvel Comics, and the character is a half-Chinese, half-American hero that writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin created in 1973.
In the comics, Shang-Chi was not usually depicted with “superpowers,” as he was so skilled in martial arts that he could dodge bullets. In recent stories, however, he’s been able to clone himself, but it’s unclear whether the film will depict that ability.