The next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2021 list of projects is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which unlike its predecessor, Black Widow, will be released exclusively on cinemas, in what Disney is wrongly and disrespectfully calling “an experiment”. The MCU’s first three Phases, collectively known as the Infinity Saga, have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean it was the end for this connected universe, which continues its expansion with Phase 4. This new wave covers TV shows and movies, bringing back old characters and introducing new heroes, and on the movie side of it, the first new hero will be Shang-Chi (Simu Liu).
Shang-Chi will make his debut in his solo movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Per MCU tradition with a character’s first solo movie, Shang-Chi will tell the origin story of the title character and explore his connection to the Ten Rings, the terrorist organization first teased in the Iron Man movies and which is led by Shang-Chi’s father, Wenwu a.k.a. The Mandarin (Tony Leung). Although Shang-Chi managed to separate himself from the Ten Rings, he will be pulled back into it and forced to confront the past he thought he had left behind. Like many other projects, Shang-Chi’s release was affected by the coronavirus pandemic but is now set to release on September 3, in what Disney is calling “an experiment”.
The pandemic forced studios to reschedule their releases, with many of them being pushed back multiple times and others being sent to different streaming platforms in order to avoid losing the interest of the audience. Disney made the latter move with some of its biggest projects, such as Jungle Cruise, Cruella, and Black Widow, the latter making way for a lawsuit from Scarlett Johansson. However, Black Widow seems to be the only Marvel movie (for now, at least) to be released on Disney+ at the same time of its theatrical release, as Shang-Chi will be released in theaters only, in what Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek called “an experiment”, as it’s now “too late” to change their plans for the movie and send it to Disney+ on Premier Access.
Shang-Chi being called an experiment by Chapek is not only wrong but disrespectful to everything this movie represents. The MCU has been called out on its lack of inclusivity for years, and its biggest improvements and achievements so far have been Black Panther (the first black superhero), Captain Marvel (the first female-led MCU movie), and Shang-Chi, this universe’s first Chinese superhero. Shang-Chi is a huge step forward towards inclusivity not only in the MCU and the superhero genre but for cinema in general, and Disney using it as a box office experiment shows the studios’ total lack of awareness of what Shang-Chi represents and its importance to the audience and the industry. Early box office projections show that Shang-Chi could have the lowest opening weekend since The Incredible Hulk, and with the studio using it to experiment and see what works best for its future movies, it comes out as a disrespectful move to everyone involved in the movie and those who have been waiting for more Asian representation in the MCU.
Simu Liu has already commented on this on his social media, emphasizing they are not an experiment and they are “the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers” as well as the “celebration of culture and joy that persevere after an embattled year”, and shared he’s more motivated now to make history with Shang-Chi. Fans are also fired up to not let the movie flop and will surely do what they can to show their support to Liu and everyone involved in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, only to prove to the studio how wrong they are about using it as an experiment that was made to hurt the final product. Whether it’s truly late to change the movie’s release plans or not is something only Disney knows, but the results will surely impact the future of upcoming MCU movies.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3AS6hUt
0 Comments