Well before filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton takes on his very first superhero film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” he’s got a new film “Just Mercy” arriving in theaters and making the festival rounds, earning some early awards buzz. However, even with a courtroom drama with Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan coming in the weeks ahead, when Cretton was recently at the Toronto International Film Festival, he took time to talk about his Marvel Studios film and why he’s excited to transition into the world of superheroes.
Speaking to The Observer, the man who directed films like “Glass Castle” and “Short Term 12” opened up about why he chose to take on ‘Shang-Chi’ and why the project means so much to him.
“It’s really exciting to me to be able to fill a movie like that with a bunch of Asian faces and be able to see more sides of these characters than what we have seen before,” Cretton said. “Growing up, I didn’t have a superhero that looked like me and it’s really exciting to give a new generation something I did not have. I couldn’t be more excited.”
For those not familiar with the Marvel Comics character, ‘Shang-Chi’ will tell the story of the “Master of Kung Fu” and his battle with the organization that has been teased throughout the MCU, the Ten Rings, which is a terrorist organization run by a character known as The Mandarin.
One of the uphill battles that Cretton will have to tackle with his upcoming superhero film is with The Mandarin. Created as a blatant, offensive Asian stereotype decades ago, The Mandarin has long since been one of the most problematic villains in Marvel history. However, in recent years, the comics have taken steps to help modernize the character, and with the addition of Tony Leung to the cast to play Mandarin in “Shang-Chi,” Cretton believes they can help make the villain more than just a punchline.
“I think [Leung] brings a humanity that we need for that character,” he said. “We are not looking to contribute any more to the Asian stereotypes that we have seen both in cinema and pop culture. We’re hoping to just show some different sides to both Asian-Americans and Chinese-Americans and Mainland Chinese characters.”
The director continued, “Tony is such an incredible actor and I’m excited to have him help us break some of those stereotypes because that villain could easily become a punchline.”
We’ll have to see how Cretton does with his upcoming Marvel film when “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” arrives in theaters on February 12, 2021.
