Marvel’s First Asian Superhero Is Here, And It’s Just The First Of A New Era

“Throughout our history in this country, Asian Americans have seen the dire consequences of compliance and invisibility: exploitation, exclusion, internment. Shang-Chi isn’t the first Asian protagonist we’ve seen on a screen. But as a big-budget, big-screen Marvel superhero, he’ll be ubiquitous.

In his wake will come more Asian heroes ... [and] their casting ensures that a generation of young Asian Americans will, for the first time, see themselves front and center, larger than life, on the biggest of screens. So will the rest of the world, which is arguably even more important - when people see us as heroes, they’re forced to see us as humans.”

Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is the first film from the popular studio to center on an Asian superhero (played by Canadian-Chinese actor Simu Liu). It’s a big deal for the widespread Asian community, as an op-ed from Asian author Jeff Yang shared in the New York Times. It is also the signal that the world’s biggest movie multiverse is shifting course in a positive new direction for diversity and inclusion.

After nearly a decade of formulaic sequels: Iron Man 3 followed by Captain America 2 followed by Avengers 2, the next few Marvel films are exploring entirely new characters. Shang-Chi, The Eternals, and The Marvels are just three of the planned new franchises, each with a diverse cast of characters. Superheroes can do anything. The fact that they are finally starting to look like the rest of us matters.