Villain/s of the Shang-Chi?

[psylockolussus]

Who do you want to appear in the film?

 

[Silvermoth]

Well obviously they’ll have to do a version of Fu Manchu. Even though they’re usually iron fist villains I would so love to see the immortal weapons appear

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

I think the big baddie in the first movie should definitely be Shang Chi's father, Zheng Zu; otherwise known as Fu Manchu. He looks like a masked Chinese sorcerer in the comics, but I think they should go the route of having him dressed to the nines in suits. Zheng Zu should be a Chinese crime-lord with successful businesses and nightclubs(also doubling as fronts ) who secretly has assassins in his employ. He should have an intimidating presence and be capable of great skill, who could rip someone's heart from their chest before they could even finish blinking. We also need someone capable of warmth, we should believe that he genuinely loves his son and does not want them fighting. Shang Chi might even be working for his father at the start, and leaves when he's finally had enough of his father's schemes. He's the perfect one to oppose his father, because Shang knows what Zheng plans to do next, and he knows who works for his father and the ins-and-outs of his business. Neither of the two should back down in their goals, being so similar to each other and strong-willed. But the love has to be there so we feel that strong sense of conflict as an audience. I'd really like it if Zheng let his son part ways, as long as Shang Chi didn't stand in his way afterwards. Of course, Shang does choose to stop his dad, and that's when the problems begin. All of this gives Shang a conflicted past and a complicated relationship with his father, wrapped up in crime. This movie's gotta be a tale of redemption for Shang and how he becomes a man in the opposition of his father.

There should be a few different assassins Shang's father sends after him throughout the movie at random times. I think Shang should have different relationships with each assassin, because they've all done work together in the past. Some of the assassins he likes, and some of them have no problem with hurting Shang. How do some of them feel about him being half white, I wonder? And some of those assassins are Shang's siblings, who might genuinely love him or even just want him out of the way so they can gain their father's full respect. I'm imagining a real family drama at the heart of this film. Zheng Zu could be ruthless enough to have the assassins kill the people aiding his son, but return Shang Chi home alive by any means; even if that means breaking every single bone in his body, or taking a few limbs off. But that ruthlessness has a ceiling, because Zheng knows that his son could take the pain of having his bones broken, and he has the means of replacing Shang's lost limbs with cybernetic implants or even cellular regeneration. It's not until the end that Shang must face his father in a one-on-one duel to the death;. I think handling these movies in the vein of John Wick and Kill Bill is the best route to go.

 

[ThePowerCosmic]

Not very familiar with Shang Chi's villains, but these are some I found interesting. Assassins who should be working for Zheng Zu.

Darkstrider, the six-armed man. He can either be a mutant like he is in the comics, or have robotic implants for extra arms.

Fah Lo Suee, half-sister to Shang Chi. Powers of Hypnosis.

Ghostmaker. Deadly martial artist who can use anything as a weapon and is equipped with gadgetry, bladed weaponry and a jetpack.

Humbug, with a control over insects via telepathy.

Moving Shadow, half-brother to Shang Chi and just as deadly. Maybe this character should be combined with Ghostmaker.

Razor-Fist...a name which speaks for itself.

There should also be nameless Hitmen and anonymous groups of ninjas:

 

[Tg11]

Moving Shadow gets my vote

 

[Abudefduf]

Here are some villains I'd like to see

The Bride of Nine Spiders. Yes I'm aware she was in Iron Fist but from what I've heard she was completely wasted there. She deserves another chance and anyone who's read Immortal Iron Fist knows why.

Lady Bullseye. To be honest I've never read a comic with this character in it but who cares, look at how cool she is.

Black Tarantula. On top of being an expert martial artist, he also has superpowers and a killer costume. That's just unfair.

Not very familiar with Shang Chi's villains, but these are some I found interesting. Assassins who should be working for Zheng Zu.

Darkstrider, the six-armed man. He can either be a mutant like he is in the comics, or have robotic implants for extra arms.

Fah Lo Suee, half-sister to Shang Chi. Powers of Hypnosis.

Ghostmaker. Deadly martial artist who can use anything as a weapon and is equipped with gadgetry, bladed weaponry and a jetpack.

Humbug, with a control over insects via telepathy.

Moving Shadow, half-brother to Shang Chi and just as deadly. Maybe this character should be combined with Ghostmaker.

Razor-Fist...a name which speaks for itself.

There should also be nameless Hitmen and anonymous groups of ninjas:

These are some cool characters. Especially the dude with the razor fists, he looks like something out of a cheap fighting game from the 90's.

 

[chamber-music]

His father and siblings for the first movie (Zheng Zu, Zheng Boa Yu, Midnight Sun and Moving Shadow)

Save the other foes for a sequel.

 

[Abudefduf]

His father and siblings for the first movie (Zheng Zu, Zheng Boa Yu, Midnight Sun and Moving Shadow)

Save the other foes for a sequel.

I know next to nothing about Shang-Chi so if you say those characters are the ones who should appear in his origin film I'll take your word for it.

That Midnight Sun guy sure looks ridiculous, though.

 

[Dark Raven]

This film would actually be a better place to introduce the real Mandarin instead of Iron Man. In Iron Man, audiences could criticise it of reeking of stereotypes and having the Chinese as the villains.

But here, if the Chinese are already the heroes, then it makes it no different to any other Chinese film where they have both Chinese heroes and villains.

Might be a good way to also introduce Radioactive Man, who could later tie into the Masters of Evil.

 

[Silvermoth]

Oh my gosh I love Chen Liu! Maybe that’s how the story begins, Shang Chi is an agent sent over to stop a nuclear weapon from going off. Turns out the nuclear weapon is a who not a what. Once that’s done he’s ambushed by his old man whom he has a difficult relationship with and then the movie continues

 

[Mike Murdock]

Shang Chi's clear villain is his father. The question is what they're going to do with him. The character has a lot of racist baggage, but he also has immediate connotations of an evil villain that, at the time, the audience would have been instantly familiar with. The character was a licensed character so he had an established history ahead of time. If they go with his modern comics name, it loses that history but avoids the baggage. That being said, I'm not sure a modern audience would instantly recognize the character as a supervillain based on the name alone given that it comes off as so antiquated these days. People would probably think it's a joke character named after the facial hair style.

I wonder if there's any way to capture the instant recognizability that Fu Manchu originally had without the problems that go with it. My guess is no, which means they'll just have his father be evil without more, but I hope they give it some thought.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Maybe you could merge his father and the Ten Rings into 1 storyline? Make him the "real Mandarin" that was referenced?

 

[Lilbaz]

I know next to nothing about Shang-Chi so if you say those characters are the ones who should appear in his origin film I'll take your word for it.

That Midnight Sun guy sure looks ridiculous, though.

Only remember him as an enemy of silver surfer.

 

[Lilbaz]

Shang Chi's clear villain is his father. The question is what they're going to do with him. The character has a lot of racist baggage, but he also has immediate connotations of an evil villain that, at the time, the audience would have been instantly familiar with. The character was a licensed character so he had an established history ahead of time. If they go with his modern comics name, it loses that history but avoids the baggage. That being said, I'm not sure a modern audience would instantly recognize the character as a supervillain based on the name alone given that it comes off as so antiquated these days. People would probably think it's a joke character named after the facial hair style.

I wonder if there's any way to capture the instant recognizability that Fu Manchu originally had without the problems that go with it. My guess is no, which means they'll just have his father be evil without more, but I hope they give it some thought.

Marvel lost the rights to fu manchu that's why they changed his name. So i wouldn't worry too much about baggage.

 

[Dark Raven]

Shang Chi's clear villain is his father. The question is what they're going to do with him. The character has a lot of racist baggage, but he also has immediate connotations of an evil villain that, at the time, the audience would have been instantly familiar with. The character was a licensed character so he had an established history ahead of time. If they go with his modern comics name, it loses that history but avoids the baggage. That being said, I'm not sure a modern audience would instantly recognize the character as a supervillain based on the name alone given that it comes off as so antiquated these days. People would probably think it's a joke character named after the facial hair style.

I wonder if there's any way to capture the instant recognizability that Fu Manchu originally had without the problems that go with it. My guess is no, which means they'll just have his father be evil without more, but I hope they give it some thought.

Marvel lost the rights to fu manchu that's why they changed his name. So i wouldn't worry too much about baggage.

Even if Marvel had the rights, they would be wading into completely racist territory to even use the name Fu Manchu. Apart from it being a racist caricature, it is even sometimes a racist name white people have called any Asians, regardless of if they even have a moustache. It's even like the name Charlie Chan.

Why promote the conditions for further racist abuse?

Maybe you could merge his father and the Ten Rings into 1 storyline? Make him the "real Mandarin" that was referenced?

I wouldn't mind that. The only thing is that it feels like it's stealing Iron Man's arch enemy.

 

[Lilbaz]

Even if Marvel had the rights, they would be wading into completely racist territory to even use the name Fu Manchu. Apart from it being a racist caricature, it is even sometimes a racist name white people have called any Asians, regardless of if they even have a moustache. It's even like the name Charlie Chan.

Why promote the conditions for further racist abuse?



I wouldn't mind that. The only thing is that it feels like it's stealing Iron Man's arch enemy.

They don't have the rights and wont be making a character that would be offensive to anyone.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Maybe you could merge his father and the Ten Rings into 1 storyline? Make him the "real Mandarin" that was referenced?

I mean, I think the All Hail the King thing was entirely to appease fans without any real follow-up plans, but, if they do want follow-up plans, this is a solid one.

Marvel lost the rights to fu manchu that's why they changed his name. So i wouldn't worry too much about baggage.

While I agree, I also know the baggage is something that's real. More mainstream press has already expressed concern that Shang-Chi is a racist book because of Fu Manchu.

 

[Lilbaz]

I mean, I think the All Hail the King thing was entirely to appease fans without any real follow-up plans, but, if they do want follow-up plans, this is a solid one.



While I agree, I also know the baggage is something that's real. More mainstream press has already expressed concern that Shang-Chi is a racist book because of Fu Manchu.

They can express as much concern as they want fu manchu is not going to be in the film.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I assume you would agree Shang-Chi's father would likely be in the movie, though.

 

[Lilbaz]

I assume you would agree Shang-Chi's father would likely be in the movie, though.

He will not be called fu manchu, i doubt he will have any resemblance to fu manchu and will have a history different to fu manchu. He will not be fu manchu.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Yeah, I agree. The question is whether there's anything that can be done to give the audience instant recognition of him as a supervillain with a different name.

 

[Dark Raven]

Yeah, I agree. The question is whether there's anything that can be done to give the audience instant recognition of him as a supervillain with a different name.

Make him more like Mr Han in Enter the Dragon. Visually different than Fu Manchu but instant supervillain look. Although they might think he's copying Dr No and Wolverine.



They would need to have him put up more of a fight than Han though. Make him far more formidable and someone who can beat Shang Chi so that the stakes are raised.

 

[Lilbaz]

I would personally not have him look like a supervillain. Maybe a very rich/powerful chinese business man. Only later in the film you find out he's far more than he seems. Have some of his henchmen be more out there though.

 

[Dark Raven]

I would personally not have him look like a supervillain. Maybe a very rich/powerful chinese business man. Only later in the film you find out he's far more than he seems. Have some of his henchmen be more out there though.

Yeah, but you don't want to go too much down that route of business man, otherwise it will feel like we're retreading Iron Fist territory from Season 1. We don't need this movie full of board meetings and focusing on all those aspects. In martial arts movies, the villains are clearly the villains and they are usually quite fantastical or formidable.

In the classic "The Invincible Armor" with Hwang Jang Lee (who was the villain in Drunken Master and often played unbeatable villains), he was invulnerable and like a full-body version of Iron Fist.





Shang Chi needs to be more than just a good Marvel movie. It has to be a good martial arts movie too.

 

[Lilbaz]

Yeah, but you don't want to go too much down that route of business man, otherwise it will feel like we're retreading Iron Fist territory from Season 1. We don't need this movie full of board meetings and focusing on all those aspects. In martial arts movies, the villains are clearly the villains and they are usually quite fantastical or formidable.

In the classic "The Invincible Armor" with Hwang Jang Lee (who was the villain in Drunken Master and often played unbeatable villains), he was invulnerable and like a full-body version of Iron Fist.





Shang Chi needs to be more than just a good Marvel movie. It has to be a good martial arts movie too.

Not talking of watching board meetings just his look. Sophisticated, smart, with an air of power. He'll be a crime boss. But later in the film you find that he is old and has abilities.