WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shang-Chi #1, by Gene Luen Yang, Dike Ruan, Philip Tan, Sebastian Cheng and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
If there's one antagonist who has hovered over Shang-Chi for his entire life, it's his evil father. Initially introduced as the literary villain Fu Manchu before being retconned into the new identity of Zheng Zu, Shang-Chi's father was the shadowy mastermind behind a global criminal syndicate based out of China. Through use of dark magic and science, Zheng Zu had managed to survive for centuries to torment his son in the relative present of the Marvel Universe before finally meeting his apparent end.
And as details about the villain's far-reaching history come to light in Shang-Chi #1, Zheng Zu is revealed to share a history with a major Marvel supervillain: Fin Fang Foom.
A flashback prologue to the latest Shang-Chi miniseries is set in China during the early Qing Dynasty, placing it approximately in the 18th century. At that point in Chinese history, martial arts had been outlawed by the imperial government under penalty of death, which forced Zheng Zu and his younger brother Zheng Yi to rescue their students from execution. Defeating the imperial guards and executioner, the brothers discover that the planned execution site, in the northern city of Tianjin, is built on the fabled dragon lines running across China. Subsequently, the rescue is interrupted by an attack from Fin Fang Foom, with the martial artist rallying in action to defeat the dragon which helped position Zheng Zu to take power for himself.
Created in 1961's Strange Tales #89 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Fin Fang Foom was an alien invader from the planet Maklu IV that landed in ancient China to study and eventually conquer the Earth before entering a lengthy hibernation. Awakening in the modern-day Marvel Universe, Fin Fang Foom would use his vast array of abilities and advanced technology in repeated attempts to conquer the world, establishing himself as a major antagonist for Iron Man and other Marvel superheroes while usually maintaining his base of operations in the mountains of China.
And now, Fin Fang Foom's association with Shang-Chi may spread to the Marvel Cinematic Universe next summer.
As filming resumes for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a recent report has claimed the upcoming MCU film will include the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon, a Chinese locale introduced as Fin Fang Foom's headquarters in 1990's Iron Man #261 by John Byrne and John Romita, Jr. With the Mandarin replacing Fu Manchu as the film's central protagonist, the classic villain's origins, which involve gathering the movie's eponymous ten rings, could be a nod to how the Mandarin acquired his own power source from a Makluan vessel in China to transform into one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful supervillains.
While it's unclear if Zheng Zu's association with Fin Fang Foom extends beyond this initial, 18th century skirmish, the inclusion of the dragon at a time before Shang-Chi's father had become a villainous crime lord broadens his connections to the wider Marvel Universe. In addition to establishing a precedent for linking Shang-Chi to Fin Fang Foom, it explains how the magical martial arts villain built his reputation while leaving open the possibility for both villains' return in the modern-day.