WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Shang-Chi #1 by Gene Luen Yang, Dike Ruan, Triona Farrell and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.

Before he crashes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his own upcoming film, Shang-Chi has just made a thrilling return to the world of Marvel Comics in a brand new series. Following the revelations that his deceased father's criminal pseudo-cult, Five Weapons Society, was still operating -- and that the siblings he had never met were still part of it -- Shang=Chi has taken on the role of leading the Five Weapons Society for himself. And as much as he would like to continue playing the hero, things aren't quite so easy when you rule a centuries-old secret underworld of your own.

Shang-Chi's sister, Esme, doesn't understand her brother's longing for a personal life outside of the Five Weapons Society, going so far as to interrupt him while on a date. The man that Esme has been interrogating hasn't given up any particularly useful information, and while she and her brother bicker over how seriously he is or isn't taking his place as the Supreme Commander, the man produces a strange-looking root. With it, he transforms his hands into powerful claws and lashes out at Shang-Chi and Esme. The man's assault is nothing compared to Shang-Chi, though as soon as he goes down, Esme spots a tracker on the bottom of his shoe, one with a familiar arachnid shape. After catching up with his quarry, Spider-Man is more than happy to lend a hand to his old pal in taking down whatever seedy operation is at the center of all of this. The fact that Shang-Chi is using a criminal empire to help the process creates some especially complicated feelings.

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From Shang-Chi #1 (2021)

Once the heroes have hunted down the source of the root that is transforming people and battled their way through the facility producing it, it becomes crystal clear just how much control Shang-Chi truly has over the Five Weapons Society when he orders his soldiers to destroy everything that remains of the root. Not only that, but the criminals behind its production recognized Shang-Chi's title as the new Supreme Commander. Though it takes a while for it all to sink in, when it does, it hits Spider-Man like a ton of bricks. When Spidey is finally back on his feet from the fight and sees the Five Weapons Society soldiers doing his old friend's bidding, he asks point-blank if Shang-Chi is even still one of the good guys, to which Shang Chi tells him to ask his Spider-Sense. There is little doubt that Peter isn't getting any alarm bells from Shang-Chi, but that doesn't make things any simpler, and it certainly doesn't make up for everything else happening in Shang-Chi's orbit.

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From Shang-Chi #1 (2021)

No matter how tightly Shang-Chi chooses to walk that heroic line, the greater empire that he controls is going to need a shining example to follow in order to change the ways that it has operated for generations. Shang-Chi's sister is only barely being kept in line by her devotion to the organization and by extension her brother's reign, with no telling how much that same level of dedication exists throughout the Five Weapons Society as a whole. Even during the course of taking down the root facility, Shang-Chi couldn't stop questioning what Spider-Man would think of him if he discovered the truth. Now that he has, the answer to that doesn't seem quite as bad as Shang-Chi had expected, though it wouldn't take much for that to all change in an instant.

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