I’ve always, from day one, wondered if there was any more that I could do. He continued, “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that good things come to those who do. “That’s really the power of representation: seeing yourself on screen and feeling like you’re a part of this world, which for Asian children who have grown up in the West hasn’t always been the case.” “I really hope with this movie, kids who are like me, who grew up similarly, can have that,” he said. “I loved comics as a kid, I loved superheroes, but I really didn’t see myself represented in that space,” he says. In an interview with Time in January 2021, Liu opened up about what a hero like Shang-Chi would mean to him as a kid. Now we’re being asked questions like, ‘What are the three stories out there right now that you wish you could tell?’ There’s tremendous power and responsibility in that.” The answer, inevitably, was Hong Kong Desk Cop No. For most actors, especially Canadian actors, it’s more about, ‘What will you hire me on?’ For many years of my acting career, that was first and foremost.
“I’m very aware it’s a privilege where very, very few actors get to. “The turning point was really Shang-Chi and getting asked for the first time: ‘What do you want to see out there?’” Simu Liu, who plays Shang-Chi, told Postmedia in August 2021. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is also the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature an Asian lead and a majority Asian cast. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is based on the Marvel Comics character, Shang-Chi, who made his debut in the comics in 1973.