SAN DIEGO — Marvel Studios has announced that Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu, of Kim’s Convenience, will play the lead in their upcoming film Shang Chi, making this their first film to feature a lead who was raised in the city of Mississauga, Ontario.
At this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige announced that Liu would join the ranks of Captain America and Thor as Shang Chi, an expert martial artist who knows a lot about suburban houses that all look the same because they were all built in 1985.
“At Marvel Studios we understand that representation is important,” explained Feige. “Whether it’s the African diaspora depicted in Black Panther, female leads in Captain Marvel, or young children seeing themselves in a hero who takes the Go Train downtown to escape the suffocating ennui of Canadian suburban life.”
“And when I say ‘downtown’, I mean downtown Toronto, not Mississauga. Obviously,” clarified Feige.
Insiders report Liu’s star-making film will take great steps to ensure that its representation of Mississauga is authentic, including hiring Osmows employees as script consultants. The film’s producers have also secured a post-credits cameo appearance from Hazel McCallion, who teams up with Shang Chi using her superpower of immortality.
“For too long, Mississauga has yet to be represented onscreen in a multi-billion dollar superhero franchise, but we know that Simu will do our city proud,” explained Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie. “He’ll finally share with an international audience our proud culture of t-ball fields and ample parking.”
“Plus, if the movie features a thrilling action sequence where Shang Chi has to go buy new sneakers at Square One Mall, I can set that up,” added Crombie.
Actor Simu Liu has reportedly begun an extensive training regime for the role, including Dance Dance Revolution at the Playdium, sprinting for the last Go Train only to discover that the Presto reader isn’t working, and a steady diet of strip mall fast food.
At press time the film’s title has been changed from Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, and will now be titled Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Swiss Chalet Off Erin Mills Parkway That Used To Be Beside Golden Griddle Before It Closed.
