Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe has strived to make characters like Spider-Man relatable, Shang-Chi actually accomplishes this goal in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. To some degree, the MCU has tried to make all of its heroes relatable, including humor, romance, and family dynamics in their stories. However, the characters’ motivations and connection to a larger universe sometimes make this more difficult.

Spider-Man is a prime example of this. Part of this hero’s popularity stems from him being a relatable character with personal problems and interests beyond being a superhero, which the MCU does show. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker had to deal with bullies, awkward high school parties, and having a crush. In Spider-Man: Far from Home, Peter continued to struggle with romance, and both movies were filled with humor and pop culture references. However, Spider-Man can still sometimes be difficult to connect with in the MCU. Since these movies never showed, and barely referenced, Peter’s backstory with Uncle Ben, his motivations often became driven by other MCU characters, such as his desire to impress Tony Stark. Due to this, Spider-Man’s stories tended to depend upon the MCU as a whole. Although this makes the MCU more cohesive, it also reduces the focus on Spider-Man in his own movies and makes his motivations less connected to his personal life, making him less relatable.

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However, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings successfully avoids this problem. Although this movie references the MCU, even including Trevor Slattery who pretended to be the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, the central conflict of the story is still closely connected to Shang-Chi’s family. This kept the movie focused on Shang-Chi’s motivations and character growth, helping the audience understand him better. In this way, Shang-Chi’s heroic journey did not take away from the other aspects of his life that made him relatable, such as his relationships and lifestyle.

Blended Image of Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) about to do kung fu and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) perched atop a structure

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One key aspect of Shang-Chi’s life that makes him relatable is his friendship with Katy Chen. After meeting in high school, the two became best friends. Even as adults, they continued to go out for drinks and karaoke together. Katy’s family was also used to Shang-Chi arriving at their home for breakfast each morning, where he would receive questions from Katy’s grandmother about marriage. All of these typical activities not only helped depict the pair’s friendship, but made Shang-Chi more relatable to the audience before showing him as a hero.

Similarly, Shang-Chi’s lifestyle makes him more relatable. At the beginning of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, he was working as a valet with Katy. These low-paying positions led to both of them receiving the typical questions and comments about needing to grow up and get better jobs. In addition, Shang-Chi lived in a small garage apartment, complete with an entire garage door on one wall. These aspects of his life helped make Shang-Chi one of the most down-to-earth heroes in the MCU – even more so than Marvel's flagship friendly neighborhood superhero, Peter Parker.

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