Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings starts off with something unique for an American blockbuster: An 8-minute subtitled sequence.

The Marvel creative team for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings worried the non-English opening sequence wouldn't win over American audiences. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Shang-Chi is the first movie to arrive from the MCU's Phase 4 that centers on an entirely new hero. Rising star Simu Liu plays Shang-Chi, an impressive fighter with a dark past who long ago turned his back on his father's criminal organization, the Ten Rings. However, as the movie reveals, Shang-Chi can't run from his past forever.

Shang-Chi is a monumental step forward for the MCU, in that it is the first movie in the franchise to feature an Asian lead. This came after years of questionable characters like the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones). Almost immediately, Shang-Chi immerses viewers in its hero's world; an opening sequence charts the Ten Rings' rise and the story of Shang-Chi's parents, Wenwu (Tony Leung) and Ying Li (Fala Chen). The opening avoids using English, instead featuring subtitled Mandarin. It gives the entire film an authentic touch rarely seen in Hollywood blockbusters.

Because of that, there were some concerns over at Marvel that American audiences would balk at subtitles kicking off an MCU flick. In a recent THR story about the process behind making Shang-Chi, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recalled the way he and the creative team watched test screenings to see how viewers responded to the unique opening. In the end, though, it wasn't a problem. Feige said:

“Frankly, we were always ready to see if the audience would reject it in our test screenings and to see, ‘OK, are we going to have to pull a ripcord here in any way?’ Which was not our first instinct. Destin very much believed in the fact that audiences would go with it, and sure enough they did. It wasn’t even a question. It wasn’t even a concern. On the contrary, I think it added to the authenticity in the way the movie started.”

In recent years, American audiences have become more accepting of subtitles in their everyday entertainment. One only has to look at breakout hits like Parasite and Squid Game to see it. While Shang-Chi only tells a portion of its story in Mandarin as opposed to English, it's helped to further the trend of bringing other languages into American movies. Most recently, Steven Spielberg's West Side Story made headlines for including scenes with Spanish dialogue and without subtitles, which is an even bigger step forward.

Since it is a Marvel movie, Shang-Chi's opening scene might've definitely felt like a gamble to the creative team, but it's safe to say it paid off in a big way. It made sense for Wenwu and Ying Li to speak Mandarin instead of English. As a Shang-Chi 2 is now officially in development at Marvel, one has to hope Cretton will bring that sensibility to the next one. Not only does it add deeper layers to Shang-Chi's world, but it also broadens the audience's world in a clever way. More "risks" like this one, please.

More: Shang-Chi's Ending Repeats A Problem We Thought The MCU Had Evolved Past

Source: THR