Shang-Chi Proves Marvel Can Still Tell Compelling Origin Stories
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel’s second film to release exclusively in theaters since the beginning of the pandemic, has already shattered records, quickly becoming a huge box-office success. The film is already the number one highest-grossing film of 2021, making over $320 million in profits. While at this point, it is no surprise to see Marvel doing these kinds of numbers, it is definitely worth noting that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first MCU film since 2019’s Captain Marvel where the main premise is the introduction of a new Superhero. Marvel has obviously released multiple shows and films since, but most have continued the stories of pre-established characters. And with Captain Marvel being one of the least popular MCU films, there has been a real question as to whether or not Marvel is still able to deliver complete, authentic, and unique origin stories. Desperately trying to walk the fence between giving audiences the story of a character’s iconic journey to Heroism without being repetitive or formulaic. Which has always been one of the main criticisms of the MCU.