Even before he was officially cast as the Master of Kung Fu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simu Liu possessed some impressive acrobatic ability. While auditioning for the role of Shang-Chi, Liu decided to channel a completely different Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero: Black Widow.
At a press conference attended by CBR, Destin Daniel Cretton -- who directed and co-wrote the film -- revealed that Liu backflipped into Natasha Romanoff's superhero pose during his audition. "He did a back flip into the Black Widow kneel pose, hair flip-up, looking straight into the camera," Cretton recalled, with Liu confirming his acrobatic audition.
Ever since her debut in 2010's Iron Man 2, Black Widow has used some variation of the superhero pose to underscore a key moment. The pose itself was good-naturedly teased by Romanoff's sister Yelena Belova in the film Black Widow, with Yelena questioning its practicality and dismissing it after trying it out for herself. For Liu, the backflip and pose felt like a good flair to bring to his audition for Shang-Chi, demonstrating his own superhero prowess and capacity to stand with the best of the MCU.
Directed and co-written by Destin Daniel Cretton, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.