‘Shang-Chi’ Director Destin Daniel Cretton Says Action Scenes Were Inspired By Jackie Chan Movies & Ang Lee’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’

Marvel Studios will be releasing “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings” on September 3, and there have already been early parallels made between the upcoming Asian-American superhero project starring Simu Liu to Ryan Coogler‘s landmark billion-dollar hit “Black Panther.” The studio has been increasingly studio pushing forward with high-budgeted blockbusters made by a group of diverse creatives like director Destin Daniel Cretton. Having a successful Asian-led superhero franchise from Hollywood will hopefully further crush outdated myths about what kind of movies international audiences will support with their box office dollars. 

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One key element of putting together a successful Marvel film is ensuring that the action is both unique and accelerating to audiences. While speaking with Empire Magazine, “Shang-Chi” director Destin Daniel Cretton mentioned in an interview with the British outlet that the action choreography for their martial arts superhero movie is inspired by the various films of iconic action star Jackie Chan and Ang Lee‘s Oscar-winning film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Also, mentioning the wuxia-style of fighting was added to the film by choreographers from mainland China. 

“Authenticity and respect and staying true to this genre was the main objective from day one. There’s choreography that’s reminiscent of ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ and other fight scenes are inspired by Jackie Chan. We also had choreographers from mainland China who created some beautiful wuxia-style fight scenes,” the filmmaker told Empire Magazine in their latest issue. 

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It’s hard to ignore that “Shang-Chi” cast member Michelle Yeoh was the female lead of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and co-starred with Jackie Chan in the high-octane martial arts epic “Police Story 3,” also known in certain regions as “Supercop.” Having Yeoh part of the film alongside fellow martial arts actor Tony Leung (Wong Kar Wai’s “The Grandmaster“) will likely add to the authenticity.

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Cretton continued by suggesting that there is a lot more to Shang-Chi than just his excellent martial arts skills, “It was important for us from the beginning to have the MCU’s first Asian-American superhero be a superhero. We want him to be on par with other superheroes in the MCU and not just be the master of kung fu. Shang-Chi is an incredible martial artist, but he’s so much more than that.”

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While Marvel’s “Black Widow” is heading to both Premier Access on Disney+ and theaters on July 9, Disney has stated not too long ago that “Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings” will be returning to an exclusive theatrical window. Empire has also released a new image which you can see below.