20. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

In this week’s episode, we talk about Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Please note we talk all about this movie, so there are many SPOILERS AHEAD.

:13 James introduces the topic of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and starts the conversation with his thoughts about the movie. He talks about how representation affected him given his background and how it is important to see yourself in pop culture.

3:14 We talk about how Chinese culture has been depicted in movies and the important role that Bruce Lee played in paving the way for the creation of Shang-Chi, and the struggles that Bruce went through to prove that a Chinese person can be the lead in a movie.

9:50 We talk about the creation of Shang-Chi, as well as some of the cultural biases that also translated into the comics and pop culture.

14:00 Joe gives his overall thoughts on the movie, discussing how he felt as though family was the center theme. He also talked about how he

hopes Shang Chi will be the groundwork for what’s to come in Marvel Phase 4.

16:00 Chris shares his thoughts, starting with the deconstruction of the Mandarin, the family theme, the redemption of the father, and Shaun overcoming his own demons.

27:00 We talk about the end credits scenes: is Xialing taking over the Ten Rings organization? And what are the Ten Rings summoning to Earth?

32:00 We talk about the future of Shang-Chi in the MCU. We hope that includes fully teaming up with Wong more often. This starts a discussion about what the creators chose to show in the movie in terms of some of the darker moments.

36:04 Joe compares the bus scene in this movie to the train scene in Spider-Man 2, and talks about how amazing the bus scene fight is in the movie. We also highly recommend watching The Shang-Chi Assembled, the Making of the Marvel Universe on Disney+ special.

38:00 We talk about what Shang-Chi opens up for future storylines: is Ta Lo a possible link to reintroducing Iron Fist? Will Shang-Chi still be the "Master of Kung Fu," or will he evolve into something else. Plus, will Shang-Chi have some fun team ups in the future?