Simu Liu Asked Marvel To Play Shang-Chi Long Before He Was Cast

Marvel Studios introduced their newest stars at Saturday’s San Diego Comic-Con, including “Shang-Chi” star Simu Liu. The actor will play the titular character in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of 10 Rings,” and he revealed he was only cast on Tuesday. However, he started asking for the role long ago.

On Liu’s Twitter, he had given Marvel a shout out when “Shang-Chi” was first reported to be in development last year. “OK @Marvel, are we gonna talk or what #ShangChi,” he tweeted on Dec. 3.

The Asian-Canadian actor responded to the tweet after his casting announcement with a “Well [expeletive].” He also retweeted to jokingly thank the comic book studio for answering his message.

On a March episode of the They Call Us Bruce podcast, Liu very quickly answered a trivia question about “Shang-Chi.”

“Have I been doing research on this role? I don’t know. Do I fit the breakdown of this character? Maybe. Who’s keeping track? Not me,” he joked. “Should you all go on Twitter and advocate? I don’t know.” The actor then apparently did a shirtless backflip as an “audition” for the audience.

Liu also responded to a tweet he wrote in July 2014 that asked for more diversity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Hey @Marvel, great job with Cpt America and Thor. Now how about an Asian American hero?” he wrote. He responded to his old tweet with a laugh.

Liu, who is best known for his role on “Kim’s Convenience,” is the first Asian actor to play a titular role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of 10 Rings” will show his Asian-American superhero fighting the real Mandarin (Tony Leung). Awkwafina is also set to star in an undisclosed role.

The Mandarin was previously a character in “Iron Man 3,” played by Ben Kingsley, but it was revealed that an actor was pretending to be the villain.

In the Marvel comics, Shang-Chi is trained to be a martial arts master by his father, the villainous Fu Manchu. However, Shang-Chi rebels and becomes a good guy.

Dave Callaham is writing the script while Destin Daniel Cretton is directing.

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of 10 Rings” is set to release Feb. 12, 2021. See the full list of Marvel’s Phase 4 titles and release dates.