Last night the world, and my world, was changed. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Asian superhero, with a leading Asian cast and crew behind the camera; “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021) graced the silver screen on September 3rd.
Growing up I had a few Asian role models, but none quite like what I saw in #ShangChi.. With my love of comics, superheroes, Marvel, and specifically the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was absolutely insane to see my adored martial arts genre I grew up with (and thought was weird, made fun of, misunderstood) was now being put up front and center and on par with Marvel’s biggest money makers; “The Avengers”.
On top of all that, Andy Le who played Death Dealer, was the very first Vietnamese American in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! I think that also makes him the very first Vietnamese American Superhero.. Holy f***ing sh**! What alternate universe are we living in today?! Who knows what could happen now…
This should be the norm. Why’d we have to wait so long? I seriously can now say that if I have kids - they’re going to grow up to have some pretty god damn amazing Asian role models to look up to!
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to everyone who had a hand in getting this film made and out into the world - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE go see this film! These are the types of changes we should be making in media! Chloe Zhao’s #TheEternals will be THE MOST DIVERSE Marvel film to date. It’s what the #Avengers should have been from the start. Looks like we could have a whole new beginning with #ShangChiandtheLegendoftheTenRings