In the franchise, Shang-Chi is the son of Ying Li, the guardian of the mystical village of Ta Lo and Wenwu, the founder and first leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization.

After learning Fu Manchu's evil nature, Shang-Chi swears eternal opposition to his father's ambitions and fights him as a force for good.

[13][14] Starlin, who was previously unfamiliar with Fu Manchu until Larry Hama informed him of the racist nature of the Rohmer novels, attributed his early departure from the series due to his embarrassment over the revelation.

[19] In 2001, a Shang-Chi film entered development at DreamWorks Pictures but after failing to materialize by 2004, the rights to the character were reverted to Marvel.

[24] Following the successes of Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians (both 2018), Marvel fast-tracked development of a Shang-Chi film, hiring David Callaham in December 2018 to write the screenplay and Destin Daniel Cretton to direct in March 2019.

Cretton believed the resulting script for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a "really beautiful update" to the character from what began in the comics, and was an authentic story about Asian identity.

[33][34] When he was contacted to portray the role, Liu wanted the film to "allow society to see Asian men as powerful, desirable and an aspiration of possibility."

Liu used experiences as a child battling stereotypes and microaggressions as being relatable to Shang-Chi's character arc of coming to terms with his heritage.

[34] Liu was knowledgeable in taekwondo, gymnastics, and Wing Chun,[42] and learned and trained in tai chi,[43] wushu, Muay Thai, silat, Krav Maga, jiu-jitsu, boxing, and street fighting for the film.

Shang-Chi's childhood was blissful, with his father renouncing his criminal ways to spend time with his family and his mother entertaining him and his sister Xialing with tales of her village.

Wenwu reactivates the Ten Rings organization and has Shang-Chi trained in martial arts as an assassin under the brutal tutelage of Death Dealer.

The trio are taken to the Ten Rings' compound, where Wenwu reveals that he believes Li is still alive and is being kept in Ta Lo, using the two pendants to create a map that can be used to enter the village.

The trio escape the compound with the help of Trevor Slattery and his hundun companion Morris and drive to Ta Lo to warn the village of the Ten Rings.

They are interrupted by Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, those who saw him in the underground fight club, and follow him through a portal to Kamar-Taj.

In an alternate 2024, Shang-Chi was recruited by Sam Wilson/ Captain America to join him against the Apex Hulk and his gamma spawn army.

During the battle of New York, Shang-Chi fought alongside Marc Spector/ Moon Knight, Monica Rambeau, Bucky Barnes, Nakia, and the Red Guardian using the Mighty Avenger Protocol.

He and Bishop discovered a destroyed town and rescued a Chinese boy named Kwai Jun-Fan, who told them about a Ghost train and asked to join them.

Shang-Chi and Bishop returned Jun-Fan and the immigrants to their home, where the townsfolk celebrated the Hood's defeat, before deciding to continue looking for adventure.

Karen Rought of Hypable praised the decision to have Shang-Chi already know who he is and what he can do from the very beginning, contrasting with many familiar origin stories seen in other comic-book movies.

Of this, Rought noted that "yes, this is an origin story, but it was more about self-acceptance than self-discovery...that was a breath of fresh air for the first film about a new character in the MCU."

She described Liu's take on the character to "offers us a perfect dichotomy in his role...He's a kind-faced, goofy, normal guy who hides a secret.

[50] After comments from a 2017 interview in which Liu referencing that his parents told him that China was a "third world" country where people were "dying of starvation", a Chinese release for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings thus became unlikely.

This led many Chinese fans to express disappointment that they would not be able to see the movie, citing the film's decision to remove controversial character elements related to Shang-Chi as a positive.