Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2021
The first MCU movie with an Asian lead, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and co-written by Dave Callahan. Best in its hand-to-hand fights, weakest once it turns into a CGI dragon battle at the end.
The Big Picture · Review · Discussion · Interview
‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ and the 10 Movies to See Before It
September 3, 2021/ 91 min/ Sean Fennessy · Daniel Chin
Sean Fennessy and new Ringer staff writer Daniel Chin trace the wuxia, Bruce Lee, and Stephen Chow movies behind Shang-Chi, then screenwriter Dave Callahan walks through how he got from Doom to the MCU.
37 films across 5 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringswith Daniel Chin
Destin Daniel Cretton, before Shang-Chihow a small-drama director ended up on a Marvel movie
Short Term 12 2013
A small, humane drama about a group home. Cretton carried that intimacy into Shang-Chi's family scenes.
Just Mercy 2019
Cretton was on the show for this one in 2019, right before he left to start shooting Shang-Chi.
The Glass Castle 2017
Another of Cretton's character-driven dramas, cited as evidence he was an odd but inspired pick for a martial-arts blockbuster.
The wuxia and kung fu classics behind Shang-ChiCrouching Tiger to Kung Fu Hustle
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000
The most obvious touchstone: fights staged like dance, echoed throughout Shang-Chi.
House of Flying Daggers 2004
Daniel Chin rewatched this ahead of the episode and traces its costume design directly into the Ta Lo scenes.
Hero 2002
Another Zhang Yimou reference point for the film's visual language.
Ashes of Time 1994
Wong Kar-wai's only wuxia film, and his most direct link to Tony Leung.
Chungking Express 1994
Part of the Wong Kar-wai/Tony Leung pairing Sean uses to explain how Leung is deployed in Shang-Chi.
Days of Being Wild 1990
Another Wong Kar-wai/Tony Leung film named as a reference for Leung's screen presence.
Enter the Dragon 1973
Bruce Lee's breakout, and the reason the Shang-Chi character existed in the first place.
Fist of Fury 1972
Part of the Criterion Bruce Lee collection Sean cites as grittier, more handmade viewing than Shang-Chi.
The Big Boss 1971
Same Criterion set, same point about Lee's films.
Game of Death 1978
Rounds out the Bruce Lee titles Sean name-checks.
Drunken Master 1978
Early Jackie Chan Sean singles out as worth tracking down on import Blu-ray.
Wheels on Meals 1984
More early Jackie Chan recommended alongside Drunken Master.
Rumble in the Bronx 1995
Daniel Chin says Shang-Chi's bus fight directly homages this, choreographed by the late Brad Allen, who worked in Jackie Chan's camp.
Kung Fu Hustle 2004
Stephen Chow's fingerprints are all over Shang-Chi: there's a poster for it in his apartment.
Shaolin Soccer 2001
Named alongside Kung Fu Hustle as the Stephen Chow tone Callahan and Cretton were chasing.
The Warriors 1979
Walter Hill's gang movie gets its own poster nod in Shang-Chi's apartment; Sean says he owns 50-plus movie posters and clocked it instantly.
Seven Samurai 1954
The start of the Kurosawa-to-Sturges-to-Tarantino-to-MCU chain Sean traces.
The Magnificent Seven 1960
Sturges's remake of Seven Samurai, the next link in that chain.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 2003
Tarantino's debt to Hong Kong cinema, invoked as the same lineage feeding into Shang-Chi.
The required MCU homeworkwhat you actually need to see first
Iron Man 2008
Introduces the Ten Rings as a nameless terrorist organization: the thing Shang-Chi finally puts a face on.
Iron Man 3 2013
Same setup, plus Ben Kingsley's fake Mandarin, who returns in Shang-Chi to some of the movie's biggest laughs.
Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King 2014
Disney+ re-released this 15-minute short right before Shang-Chi opened; it pays off directly in the movie.
In conversation
Dave Callahan on
Horsemen 2009
His Se7en-inspired spec script, written after a breakup, that broke him into the industry.
Dave Callahan on
Godzilla 2014
Callahan pitched a multi-kaiju movie modeled on the video game Rampage; producer Dan Lin countered with Godzilla instead, and Callahan wrote early drafts.
Dave Callahan on
Rampage 2018
The movie he originally pitched got made anyway, with Dwayne Johnson, after Callahan had already moved on.
Dave Callahan on
Wonder Woman 1984 2020
Patty Jenkins brought him on, and shot his first-draft Amazon Olympics opening almost verbatim.
Dave Callahan on
Mortal Kombat 2021
Written seven years before it came out; Callahan calls the fight writing here 'poetic' rather than mechanical.
Dave Callahan on
Zombieland: Double Tap 2019
Came along not long after his daughter was born, when he wanted a break from writing violence played straight.
Dave Callahan on
America: The Motion Picture 2021
A Lord & Miller-produced animated Netflix film he wrote roughly a decade before it was released.
Dave Callahan on
Heat 1995
The movie that showed Callahan filmmaking could be more than Schwarzenegger and Van Damme.
Dave Callahan on
The Incredible Mr. Limpet 1964
One of the few movies Callahan's mother showed him growing up in a house with no cable.
Dave Callahan on
Godzilla vs. Kong 2021
Callahan texted Dan Lin after watching it, joking about how far the MonsterVerse had strayed from his early research.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Black PantherCrazy Rich AsiansThe Joy Luck ClubOldboyOnce Upon a Time in HollywoodDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV WandaVisionLokiKim's ConvenienceFresh Off the BoatJean-Claude Van JohnsonShe-Ra and the Princesses of PowerThe Challenge
Ads Boar's HeadCarvanaWhite ClawDeath, Taxes and Bananas
Games FIFA World Cup