Shang-Chi creator thinks he could be come the MCU’s new “moral center”

Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings is one of Marvel’s next major movies, introducing us to a lead character we haven’t seen yet in the MCU. Shang-Chi will be played by Canadian actor Simu Liu, and it’ll be up to him to take down the villainous Ten Rings terrorist organization, which has been mentioned in the MCU as early as the very first Iron Man movie, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Shang-Chi is one of a new generation of heroes who Marvel fans will get to know now that some of the biggest members of the old guard, like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, have moved on. And Shang-Chi co-creator Jim Starlin had some interesting thoughts on where the character could fit into this new wave of heroes while speaking on ComicBook.com’s podcast Phase Zero.

For context, Simnu Liu recently claimed in an interview that that Shang-Chi would win in a fight against Iron Man, the Hulk and Black Widow. ComicBook.com asked Starlin his own take on this scenario, and the veteran artist and writer got detailed:

"This is a conditional answer. There is the Shang-Chi that Steve Englehart and I created. And as I understand it, and which I only learned about it recently, he has additional powers now which is he can duplicate himself. If this duplication’s endless, well he could take on anybody. On his own, he’d have to be very lucky to take on the Hulk. He could stay out of his reach. He does have pressure points and nerve ends. Shang-Chi might have to get a rock to hit one of those pressure points enough to get any effect. But he’s basically a creature, a basic human, just big and green and all powerful. So Shang-Chi would have a shot at it. If he was being able to break into infinite copies of himself, well that sounds like he could take on the world."

So basically, if Shang-Chi can channel Dr. Strange-like powers, then maybe he has a chance with the Hulk.

Could Shang-Chi be the “replacement” for Captain America?

Beyond his fighting capabilities, Starlin thinks Shang-Chi could fill a very important role now left open in the Avengers:

"That they had a lot of possibilities with [Shang-Chi] that I think are really kind of interesting with the departure of the Captain America, Chris Evans character. The Marvel universe is without a moral center. He was always acting as that part. Shang-Chi…even if he is an assassin to start off with, [is] a moral character, at least the way Englehart and I created and worked with him, and I think most writers after that So he may be in some way Captain America’s replacement in the Marvel universe."

In the comics, Shang Chi definitely has a sense of discipline and focus that makes him unstoppable. He has a lot that will make him special, and no one knows it better than Starlin. “To transition from basically assassin to hero, an abominable will and a sort of religious discipline basically I think those are the three elements that make Shang-Chi more than any other character,” he said. “You know he’s basically focused on the moment and what has to be done. And that focus allows him to go on without being stopped. Makes it very hard to stop him at least.”

After this deep dive into the MCU’s newest superhero, I am definitely looking forward to seeing how he fits into the MCU. Marvel has done its due diligence by planting the seeds from the very beginning, so now it’s time to see what fruits will bloom when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits in theaters on July 9, 2021.

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h/t CBR