Marvel's Shang-Chi Director Wants Son To Have Superhero To Look Up To

Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Marvel’s upcoming Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, says he chose to do the movie because he wanted to give his son a superhero to look up to. First appearing in 1973, Shang-Chi was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin. The character was raised by an evil assassin, though he’d eventually forge his own path. Working alone, and teaming up with the likes of such as Spider-Man and The Avengers, Shang-Chi has a bevy of different abilities which include a mastery of martial arts and a proficiency with weapons. In December 2018, it was announced that Marvel Studios were planning to bring the character into their highly-successful cinematic universe. Dave Callaham, who wrote the first Expendables movie, among other writing credits, was tapped to work on the screenplay. Cretton would direct the project.

Similarly to Kenneth Branagh, who directed the first installment in the Thor franchise, and Taika Waititi, Cretton might seem at first like an odd choice to helm a big blockbuster. His first feature-length film, I Am Not a Hipster, was a drama focused on San Diego’s indie art and music scene. It explored questions of what it means to be creative when faced with tragedy. Cretton followed that up with Short Term 12. Based on a short film which Cretton directed, and featuring a lead performance from Brie Larson and a supporting turn by Lakeith Stanfield, the narrative centered around a residential treatment facility which helped troubled and lost youths. His latest feature, Just Mercy, is similarly driven by weighty subject matter.

Telling the story of prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson as he fights to free a wrongly convicted man from death row, Just Mercy has been in the conversation as contending for awards. But despite the fact that the legal drama includes a cast recognizable to fans of comic book adaptations, from Brie Larson, who has collaborated frequently with Cretton, to Michael B. Jordan, his transition from the biases of the criminal justice system to the world of Marvel might seem a bit sudden. In an interview with THR, Cretton was asked about his decision to direct Shang-Chi. Read his answer below.

I grew up without a superhero to look up to. I gravitated to Spider-Man when I was a kid, primarily because he had a mask covering his face and I could imagine myself under that mask. I would love to give my son a superhero to look up to. I feel very privileged to be a part of telling that story.

His answer makes a lot of sense, giving credence to the importance of thoughtful representation in pop culture. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, considered by many to be the very best adaptation of Spider-Man, was praised in part because of how it tapped into the fact that anyone could be under the iconic mask. Spider-Man didn’t have to look a certain way. The Webbed Wonder just needed to be willing to fight for was right. It was a simple, yet original take on a familiar conceit. That may be what Cretton hopes to accomplish with Shang-Chi.

Notably, the cast of Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings is almost entirely Asian. While Marvel, like much of Hollywood, has lagged in terms of representation, progress has been made. If Cretton’s hopes for the adaptation are met, it will hopefully only be the beginning of a more diverse superhero universe.

More: Shang-Chi: 5 Things That Have Been Confirmed (& 5 Fan Theories)

Source: THR