Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu was offended when Marvel first announced the movie.

As part of a profile on the actor in Men's Health, Liu detailed how he was taken aback when Marvel announced a Shang-Chi film was coming out. He dove into the comic book history of the hero and was disappointed by the years of stereotypes in the source material. He also didn't enjoy that the character's "superpower" was being really good at martial arts.

"I was almost disappointed," Liu said. "I was like, how many opportunities do we have for Asian superheroes, and this one guy is, like, just a kung fu master? It just felt kind of reductive and, you know, not true to life and not anything that I could relate to."

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For Liu, he eventually saw it as an opportunity, especially as he's always been obsessed with superheroes.

"We’re experiencing harassment and violence at an unprecedented level, and it’s just very important to be a guy that stands up and says, ‘Hey, this is not okay.’ And there is a real responsibility that comes with not just anybody with a platform but with mine, specifically, of being the first of a community to be, you know, a superhero," Liu said. "Maybe that’s why I loved superhero movies from the very get-go. They grapple with these big ideas of good versus evil. Once you have power, how are you going to use it?"

"Kung fu for kung fu’s sake, as an aesthetic or a prop, that’s where it starts to get tropey and dangerous," Liu continued. "[But] there’s a reason why when Hong Kong action was introduced to Western audiences, people went bananas for it. Kung fu is, objectively, really cool.” I can’t help smiling as he says this. It’s the reason I’ve never minded the Bruce Lee cracks. It’s why I wouldn’t mind being called Shang-Chi in a few months, when the movie drops and percolates through the culture."

Liu believes the release of Shang-Chi will give him the chance to explore more roles and eventually move beyond just acting.

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"On the shoulders of all that’s come before me, with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and Jet Li, to finally be in an opportunity where we can explore uncharted territory for Asian faces, to then stay in the martial-arts realm, it wouldn’t be a good move," he said. "I think you’ll see me in something that’s not distinctly Asian. And pretty soon you’re going to start seeing my name pop up in projects I’m not acting in."

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Daniel Callaham, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as Wenwu/The Mandarin, Awkwafina as Katy, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, Meng'er Zhang as Xialing, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Fala Chen as Jiang Li and Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist. The film arrives in theaters Sept. 3.

Source: Men's Health