Highlights and Cast
Marvel’s Shang Chi has just hit theatres and it’s the first Marvel movie with an all-Asian cast. Diversity is not the only draw for The legend of the ten rings. Its great action scenes, humor, and special effects are sure to at least interest Marvel fans the world over. While the trailers did not provide much in lieu of a story, the cast is surely a spectacular ensemble. With all the trailers have revealed, it is clear that Marvel is not trying to re-invent the wheel with Shang Chi. A lot of characters are returning including the Abomination seen for the first time after the last Hulk movie.
The Cast Highlights (Marvel’s Shang Chi)
“We are not experimenting”, says Simu Liu playing the main character when asked about the movie. Lots of speculation has been aroused about Shang Chi being potentially not as successful as other Marvel movies. However, Marvel’s attitude towards the movie has been similar to “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Legend of the 10 rings is a similar lesser-known intellectual property, but it remains to be seen whether it achieves the same result as Guardians. However, with stars such as Simu Liu, Michelle Yeoh, and Tim Roth, it’s hardly going to be a lightweight. We’d like to highlight the cast because it’s seriously quite a hit list. Here are some of the notable cast members below.
Simu Liu in Marvel’s Shang Chi
Best known for his role as Jung Kim in the award-winning CBC sitcom Kim’s Convenience, the Canadian actor, writer and stuntman now don the role as the protagonist Shang Chi in Marvel’s latest. His other notable works include The Akira Project (2014), Orphan Black (2013-2017), Blood and Water (2015-2021), and also as a voice actor in the recently announced Star Wars Visions anime series (2021)
Awkwafina (Marvel’s Shang Chi)
Popular American actress and rapper Nora Lum, also known as Awkwafina plays Katy in Marvel’s latest. Previously she has played supporting roles in “Oceans 8” and “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018). Her leading role in the comedy drama “The Farewell” (2019) earned her a golden globe nomination.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai
One knows Tony Leung Chiu-wai as a legendary Hong Kong actor, singer, and theatre actor. The list of the 45+ movies and 20+ he has starred in would be too huge to state in detail here. But, he is best known for his role in the drama “In The Mood For Love” for which he won the best actor award in Cannes in 2000. He plays the Mandarin in this movie and from the trailers it is clear he is doing a real badass job.
Fala Chen in Marvel’s Shang Chi
Chinese American actress Fala Chen is a very popular TVB star with over 30+ movies and TV shows under her actress’ belt already. She is best known for her Hong Kong TVB drama series Steps, No Regrets, Triumph in the Skies II, Lives of Omission, and others. She plays Leiko Wu in Marvel’s latest.
Michelle Yeoh in Marvel’s Shang Chi
Winning the Miss Malaysia pageant in 1983, Michelle Yeoh began her highly prosperous career in both East and the West. She rose to fame in the 1980s and was known internationally for her roles in the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies”; and the epic martial arts movie “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”. I for one, am really excited to see her on the big screen again. She plays the role of Jiang Nan in the movie.
Tim Roth
Since the last Incredible Hulk movie, Tim Roth finally returns as The Abomination for the first time. While that wasn’t really the best movie, but Tim Roth gave a really badass performance as Blonksky who became The Abomination. The BAFTA award-winning British actor returns as the Abomination in Marvel’s latest.
Dallas James Liu in Marvel’s Shang Chi
A former martial artist, Dallas James Liu has played the leading role of Jin in the questionable live-action adaptation of Tekken. Nevertheless, he returns as Liu in the Legend of the 10 rings movie.
Ben Kingsley
Easily one of the most experienced members of the cast, Ben Kingsley has a career spanning over five decades. He has earned two Golden Globe awards, a BAFTA award, a Screenactor’s Guild award, and an Academy Award from four nominations. He has also earned a Grammy Award. Ben Kingsley plays Trevor Slattery in Marvel’s latest, and I’m really excited to see him on screen.
Benedict Wong’s return
Wong returns as the beloved master magician Wong we have all become familiar with in Dr. Strange. In the trailer, we can see him going toe to toe with Abomination. The British actor has starred as Kublai Khan in the underrated Netflix show Marco Polo and as Bruce Ng in The Martian. Marvel fans are sure to be excited for the return of Wong.
Conclusion
Marvel’s strong Asian cast has been the highlight of the movie so far with little about the story revealed so far. We know there is a certain angle about clan and family and also the mysterious ten rings. Since it’s Marvel, surely all will be explained in the movie. Marvel fans can look forward to multiple veteran actors doing the characters justice and also some very popular characters returning.
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