Okay, I hope you read my posts regularly because, as I had recounted here five months ago, Marvel has come through officially declaring a Shang-Chi movie to be on their radar.
The announcement was made with the approval of no less a Marvel Studios heavyweight than Mr. Kevin Feige himself (see here), so we should definitely take it seriously.
David Callaham (‘Expendables’, ‘Godzilla’) has been tagged to write the film. No news yet on casting. We may, however, ask: why the sudden fast tracking of Shang-Chi to the big screen? Not that I’m complaining, but this seems very sudden and out of the blue.
Well, it’s possible that the DC announcement of a potential 'Blue Beetle' film starring the Jamie Reyes version of the character (a Latino-American), may have stimulated Marvel to push for a Shang-Chi movie (so they could introduce the first Chinese Super-hero).
On the other hand, maybe the cancellation of the Netflix ‘Iron Fist’ show was the efficient cause of today’s announcement.
In any case, it doesn’t really matter so long as the Shang-Chi movie actually happens and ends up being a great film.
Marvel’s master of martial arts would make an excellent protagonist. Shang-Chi, created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, was very much a product of the Bronze Age.
You see, during the early to mid-1970s there was a Kung Fu and Karate obsession in the US. The TV series ‘Kung Fu’ starring David Carradine, was an early attempt to capitalize on this trend running successfully on ABC from 1972-1975. Then, in 1973, there was Bruce Lee. ‘Enter the Dragon’ (released by Warner Brothers in 1973) really helped push the Kung Fu/Katate craze along.
Inevitably, this trend hit comics and Marvel was there to take advantage of the situation with a really great book.
The name Shang-Chi means “The Rising and Advancing of a Spirit”. In Special Marvel Edition #15 we get his first appearance and learn how he was trained to be a living weapon. Shang-Chi’s father, Fu Manchu, who also appears here for the first time, wanted him to murder his enemy Dr. Petrie. Learning that his father is evil incarnate leads our hero to fake his own death and join his father’s old enemy Sir Denis Nayland Smith. When I blogged about this comic five months ago it had just sold in 9.8 certified grade for $2, 200.00 and had a roi of positive 30% rates for that grade. Since then the book has somewhat flagged in prices currently having a FMV of $1,550.00 in 9.8 with the last eBay sale in that pristine grade going for $1, 800.00, but with an abundance of sales the roi is currently 51.7%.
Expect that to change mighty quick and those numbers to rise if the Shang-Chi movie moves past pre-production phase. With 1, 346 copies of this book on the CGC census, this is not exactly a rare or scarce comic but the black cover makes it really tough to find in high grade. I think we could witness another Hero For Hire scenario with this book. Get your hands on it now, if you wait it might soar out of range.
The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2 (June 1974) – Origin of Shang-Chi
This comic magazine should also be on your radar. It features the origin of our hero. Currently 9.8 certified copies are going for just over $200.00, but I suspect that will change. Only 48 of these exist on the CGC census, and bargains can still be had if you try to hunt them down raw.
