The new trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings includes a short scene seemingly aimed at the upcoming movie's western audiences, in which Simu Liu's Shang-Chi teaches Awkwafina's Lucy how to correctly pronounce his name.
Titled "Run It," the trailer includes a short exchange at the end in which Simu Liu demonstrates how to properly pronounce "Shang-Chi." Awkwafina appears to struggle, pronouncing it the way many might. It is subtle, but Liu includes the proper tones, which is one of the most important and yet most overlooked facets of pronouncing words and names in Mandarin.
Throughout the film's marketing, different pronunciations have been offered by the likes of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and star Simu Liu. Comic book fans have long pronounced Shang-Chi as "SHANG-chee." Feige tends to pronounce it, "SHONG-shee." Liu previously offered an explainer of sorts online, writing it out as "SHONG-chee." The reason there has been such debate is the character's roots and lack of definition.
Marvel provided Chinese characters to go along with the superhero's name: 上氣 (Shàng qì), which roughly translates to "upper air," which is vital, as "Shang-Chi" itself refers to dozens, if not hundreds of other words, with definitions ranging from the intended "upper air" to "hernia." The use of characters also provides the correct tones to use in order to avoid confusion.
Source: YouTube