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Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings: The Rising and Advancing of the Spirit

I think the "hype" was that Black Panther and Shang Chi were Marvel COMICS first Black and Asian super heroes. In the comics, Wong was Dr. Strange's "Alfred", not really a super hero.

Speaking strictly about the MCU I agree with your points, but I had always taken the marketing as, first of all marketing, and second,mainly a reference to comics history.
 
Snipes makes sense because Marvel didn't have anything to do with Blade. And Civil War actually came out before Luke Cage.

Blade is a Marvel character, and had three films and a TV series. Yes, Luke Cage came out a few months after Civil War, but I would argue that the big deal was the Black Panther movie. Regardless, it is all Disney hype and marketing spin.
 
Blade is a Marvel character, and had three films and a TV series. Yes, Luke Cage came out a few months after Civil War, but I would argue that the big deal was the Black Panther movie. Regardless, it is all Disney hype and marketing spin.

The Blade movies & series weren't made by Marvel.
 
If I'm honest Shang-Chi is the marvel movie I'm most looking forward to seeing since Endgame. I love the cast and the characters it's introducing. If Spider-man No Way Home confirms Toby and Andrew I might change my mind but Shang Chi is looking like a great movie.
 
I'm looking forward to Shang-Chi, but I'm a bit more intrigued by The Eternals.
 
Watching Doctor Strange for the first time the other day has gotten me excited for Shang-Chi because the latter looks like it's going to break out of the traditional MCU mold in the same way that the former did, and that really appeals to me.
 
Watching Doctor Strange for the first time the other day has gotten me excited for Shang-Chi because the latter looks like it's going to break out of the traditional MCU mold in the same way that the former did, and that really appeals to me.

How did Dr Strange's rich, arrogant genius with an attractive co worker who he has sexual tension with who experiences a medical emergency due to his own hubris and then rebuilds himself by learning to care for others, while having an enemy with mirror image abilities of his own to fight that ends in a massive CGI showdown break the traditional Marvel mold?
 
How did Dr Strange's rich, arrogant genius with an attractive co worker who he has sexual tension with who experiences a medical emergency due to his own hubris and then rebuilds himself by learning to care for others, while having an enemy with mirror image abilities of his own to fight that ends in a massive CGI showdown break the traditional Marvel mold?

Because it introduced mysticism into the MCU and therefore wasn't the 'generic action movie' I'd thought it was going to be.

It also breaks the MCU mold for me because Stephen is a completely autonomous entity, which sets him apart from practically every other hero in the MCU since most of them are connected in some way to some kind of organization.

Shang-Chi looks like it's going to also continue the theme of mysticism, set up another autonomous hero (which the MCU really needs more of), and connect back to story elements from the Iron Man Trilogy that got abandoned in favor of Tony fighting the threat of Thanos, which also appeals to me.
 
Because it introduced mysticism into the MCU and therefore wasn't the 'generic action movie' I'd thought it was going to be.

It also breaks the MCU mold for me because Stephen is a completely autonomous entity, which sets him apart from practically every other hero in the MCU since most of them are connected in some way to some kind of organization.

Shang-Chi looks like it's going to also continue the theme of mysticism, set up another autonomous hero (which the MCU really needs more of), and connect back to story elements from the Iron Man Trilogy that got abandoned in favor of Tony fighting the threat of Thanos, which also appeals to me.

Personal differences then I guess. It's a carbon copy of every other Marvel origin story plot & most of their characters, just replacing technology that's essentially magic with actual magic, which is itself explained as a kind of science that's above human understanding, just as Thor described it in Thor. To me that small difference doesn't break the mold at all, just different "technobabble" being used.
 
The Thor movies are my favorite MCU films because they're in the same mold as Doctor Strange in that they're not generic action movies and also deal with themes that aren't really covered by any of the other films in the franchise, but I fell into the trap of letting my dissatisfaction with films like Captain America Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy blind me to what Doctor Strange actually offered and what I think Shang-Chi is poised to offer, and remedying that by watching the former has actually gotten me interested in the MCU again when I haven't been for a long time.
 
As someone who loves Doctor Strange more than most, I'm more than willing to admit that it follows the MCU formula pretty closely, especially parallel to Iron Man.

But that's thing: So what if it's following the formula as long as you enjoy the way that formula is executed with different trappings?
 
I'm in no way saying don't like it. I thought it was decent. I was responding to the "breaking the mold" comment. Glad you guys liked it, and I hope @DigificWriter gets what he is hoping for from Shang Chi.
 
Doctor Strange certainly follows the origin story formula for most of the movie, but I give it huge bonus points for the more inventive final act.

But I will say that Strange came across way better in Infinity War and Endgame, and that, coupled with the presence of Sam Raimi behind the camera, has me very much excited for Multiverse of Madness.
 
I'm in no way saying don't like it. I thought it was decent. I was responding to the "breaking the mold" comment. Glad you guys liked it, and I hope @DigificWriter gets what he is hoping for from Shang Chi.
To be clear, I was agreeing with your assessment, including your push back about the film "breaking the mold." My point was one's enjoyment shouldn't be dependent on whether a film "breaks the mold."
 
Most of the MCU films feel to me like generic action movies, but the ones that resonate with me - the Thor Trilogy, Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America 1 & 2 - don't because they either expand the mythos of the MCU, have thematic elements that aren't present in the other movies or go deeper than just the superficial, or focus on characters that resonate with me on a level that goes beyond them just being "Big Damn Heroes".
 
To be clear, I was agreeing with your assessment, including your push back about the film "breaking the mold." My point was one's enjoyment shouldn't be dependent on whether a film "breaks the mold."

Of course. I mean, what's that old saying, there are only 7 basic plots and every story repeats one of them? Something like that. Nothing wrong with liking a formula.
 
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