Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a 2021 American superhero film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film with an Asian lead. Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi, a martial arts expert living incognito in San Francisco as a parking valet named "Shaun," who is drawn back into the world he fled when his father Xu Wenwu — the real Mandarin, leader of the ancient Ten Rings organization, played by Tony Leung — sends assassins to retrieve a pendant left by Shang-Chi's deceased mother. The film traces a multigenerational family drama as Shang-Chi, his sister Xialing played by Meng'er Zhang, and his best friend Katy played by Awkwafina journey from Macau to the mystical village of Ta Lo, where a dark force threatens to consume the world.

Tony Leung's casting as Xu Wenwu brought legitimate cinematic gravitas to the MCU — the legendary Hong Kong actor created one of the franchise's most sympathetic and emotionally complex villains, a man whose 1,000-year life has been defined by the loss of the woman he loved. The martial arts choreography, supervised by Brad Allan and the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, brought a grounded, Hong Kong cinema-influenced fighting style to the MCU that was widely praised as the franchise's best hand-to-hand combat. Shang-Chi earned $432 million worldwide despite being released exclusively in theaters during the Delta variant wave of COVID-19.