Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s most beloved heroes. He was a bullied teenager who became a superhero and had to learn how to use his powers every step of the way.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has shown that this week with Iron Man helping serve as a mentor to Peter Parker, and there are rumors that Doctor Strange will fill that role next.
However, the MCU’s next big hero also played a large role in helping Peter Parker become a better fighter in the comics.
Who is Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu?
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the next MCU movie to hit theaters following Black Widow.
While Black Widow will introduce another new hero that will continue on in Yelena Belova, Shang-Chi will headline his own movie as his introduction.
This is an origin story for Shang-Chi, but in the comics, he has been around for a long time and is considered the greatest non-superpowered Marvel martial artist in the world.
That’s right. If you didn’t catch on from the trailers, Shang-Chi has no superpowers. He is like Black Widow and Hawkeye, a man who fights evil with just his natural abilities.
However, Shang-Chi does have one advantage. He is the most mentally trained fighter in the Marvel Universe. In the recent Avengers storyline where the team had to face the Phoenix Force, even Captain America believed Shang-Chi was the best bet to hold the Phoenix Force and keep it under control.
This is because Shang-Chi has the natural ability to meditate, focus all his energies, and soak in the chi from every living thing around him. This isn’t a superpower. It is just mental discipline.
Shang-Chi helped bring out the best in Spider-Man
In 2011’s Spider-Island event series, everyone in Manhattan gained spider-powers, and not everyone wanted to use these powers for good.
Spider-Man detonated a device to disrupt the spider-sense of the villains, but he was too close and lost his spider-sense as well.
That is when he knew he needed help.
Madame Web, the one person with the closest connection to the Spider-Totem that gives the spider powers to heroes across the multiverse, went to get help.
She brought in Shang-Chi to watch Spider-Man in battle. When he realized that Spider-Man was an instinctive fighter with no real style, he approached Spider-Man and agreed to train him in real Kung Fu.
He first taught Spider-Man proper Kung Fu through training and then had a second session where he taught Spider-Man how to morph basic Kung Fu into his own unique version implementing his spider-powers.
This helped Spider-Man survive Spider-Island and finally help win that battle, and it was all because of the MCU’s next big hero.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premieres in theaters on September 3. Check out the full Marvel movie release schedule here.