Shang-Chi Director’s Early Ideas Had An Evil Brother, Not Sister

Simu Liu was right. Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Rings went on to make MCU history with Asian representation. One thing that is deeply enshrined in Asian culture is familial love.

More than a superhero story, which it definitely was, Shang-Chi became a story of Liu confronting his past through his father, the Mandarin, and his sister Xu Xialing.

The route Xialing takes, in the end, is still full of confusion but definitely an evil one, making fans think it would have been better if she didn’t exist. Well, if she didn’t, then a monstrous brother would have.

Yahoo! Entertainment’s Kevin Polowy took an interview with the movie’s director Destin Daniel Cretton and writer Dave Callaham about the early drafts of the film. The duo spilled some pretty beans; one which caught our eye was Shang-Chi’s almost brother.

Cretton revealed that one of the early iterations in the story had a brother left behind with Dad, who eventually turned into a monster.

I mean, at one point, there was a moment when Shang-Chi had a brother that was left behind with Dad rather than a sister. That was early on. And there’s inspirations from the comics for that character. And I think the brother, like, turned into a monster at one point.

Destin Daniel Cretton

If we come to think about it, it’s Marvel. Nothing’s crazy for them, right? Wrong.

As Callaham added, Marvel Studios will let the team run wild with their imagination. Then bring them back if something is way too crazy. Which, Callaham revealed, early drafts of Shang-Chi were.

We were doing some pretty weird stuff at the beginning before Jonathan kind of pulled us back. He knows the world. I think Destin and I, when we got there, were like ‘We can do anything! It’s Marvel!’ No idea was off the table to begin with, to be honest, which was really cool of Marvel, to let the team explore a little bit, and then eventually they tell you ‘You can’t do that, that’s too crazy’ or ‘We’re doing that somewhere else, but we can’t talk about it,’ that kind of thing.

Dave Callaham

If there were a monstrous brother, he probably would’ve been at Xialing’s place. As Xialing is well on her way to becoming one of the top villains in NCU’s Phase 4, primarily from the abandonment and inequality issues she faced, we wonder if a monster brother would have made sense or not.

Xialing struggled majorly because of her gender in the movie. Her fierce vengeance makes it more fitting and relatable for the audience to understand where it stems from.

Well, we’re now half-glad that we were introduced to Xialing.

Shang-Chi will be available to stream on Disney+ starting the Disney Plus Day on November 12, 2021.

About Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten rings is an upcoming American superhero film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. It is based on the Marvel Comics character Shang-Chi.

Cast members include Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, and Ronny Chieng.

When Shang-Chi is drawn into the clandestine Ten Rings organization, he is forced to confront the past he thought he left behind. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie will be a part of its ongoing Phase Four.

Source: YouTube