Based on Sax Rohmer's character of the same name, he is the leader of the Five Weapons Society criminal organization and the father and arch-enemy of Shang-Chi.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai portrays a character partially inspired by Fu Manchu called Xu Wenwu in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).

Editor-in-chief Roy Thomas agreed, but only if they would include Sax Rohmer's pulp villain Dr. Fu Manchu, as Marvel had previously acquired the comic book rights to the character.

In 2010's Secret Avengers #6–10, writer Ed Brubaker officially sidestepped the entire issue via a storyline where the Shadow Council resurrects a zombified version of Dr. Fu Manchu, only to discover that "Dr. Fu Manchu" was only an alias and that Shang-Chi's father real name was Zheng Zu (Chinese: 鄭祖);[7][8] in this arc, Zheng Zu's organization is called Hai-Dai.

[9] Shang-Chi's half sister Fah Lo Suee was later renamed Zheng Bao Yu in 2013's The Fearless Defenders #8, written by Cullen Bunn.

[10] In 2020, Shang-Chi starred in a self-titled five issue miniseries written by American Born Chinese author Gene Luen Yang with art by Dike Ruan and Philip Tan.

[17] Born during the early Qing Dynasty, Zheng Zu gained his education at the Tibetan monastery of Rach where he learned martial arts, arcane knowledge, and every known discipline of science.

Becoming highly regarded in his monastery, Zheng Zu was considered part of their brotherhood until the day he left to share his gifts with the world.

[19] A powerful sorcerer in his own right, Zu, along with his younger brother Zheng Yi and their five disciples, the Deadly Warriors, formed the Five Weapons Society to protect China.

The Ancient One, a fellow sorcerer and friend, provided the brothers the Eyes of the Dragon, a pair of stones that granted longevity and vigor while requiring the sacrifice of another.

[21][22][23] For the next century while building his criminal empire, Zu would steal the life essences of his blood relatives, including those from numerous offspring he fathered in order to preserve his longevity.

[26] Zheng Zu later took the woman Mara Ling to be his wife as part of an arranged marriage, despite the fact that she loved a blind archer named Li.

When Jiang Li's father, Chieftain Xin, discovered Zu's presence on the island, he ordered his daughter to execute the trespasser but the two fled to the House of the Deadly Hand.

[28] However following an attack by Hydra against the House of the Deadly Hand, Zu became cold and distant towards his family, as he felt that his love for them made him weak, and resumed his plans to infiltrate Ta Lo.

Xin and Jiang Li confronted Zu in his personal tower, where they discovered he had constructed a makeshift portal to Ta Lo.

While Zu fought his wife and father-in-law, Shang-Chi happened upon the scene, just as the portal's connection to Ta Lo became disconnected and Jiang Li was accidentally pushed through, sending her to the Negative Zone.

When Zhilan voiced her plans to reform the Society, Zheng Zu ordered Takeshi to assassinate her, who instead chose to spare her and helped fake her death.

When a dying Zheng Zu attempted to lap up the clone's blood to save his life, the fortress began to crumble around him as Shang-Chi left his father to meet his doom.

[50] Using the aliases of the Comte de St. Germain and the Ghost, Zheng Zu employed his son, Moving Shadow, as he prepared the Hellfire weapon.

Aloysius, Max and Hai-Dai ninjas then move on to the next part of the plan that involves capturing Shang-Chi and using him to restore Zheng Zu to life.

Now in full control of the Hai-Dai, Bao Yu resumes her father's long-forgotten experiment of bio-engineering Brood eggs as weapons, which she uses to carry out hits in New York's Chinatown.

The plot is uncovered by Misty Knight and Annabelle Riggs of the Fearless Defenders with help from Elsa Bloodstone; the three track Bao Yu and the Hai-Dai assassins and scientists to an underground laboratory.

With the help of No-Name of the Brood, the Fearless Defenders defeat the Hai-Dai and destroy the experiments, forcing Bao Yu to teleport away from her lair.

Xin, empowered by a taotie mask created from Shang-Chi's blood and Shi-Hua's severed hand, arrives at the dungeon to destroy the Zheng bloodline once and for all.

Shang-Chi reluctantly allows his father to guide him to the Jade Emperor's vault containing the Ten Rings, donning them to save his siblings from his grandfather.

Zu's ghost tells his son that his fear of turning into his father was why Shang-Chi was unable to wield the Ten Rings and urges him to embrace his Zheng lineage to save his family and home.

Due to the experience, Shang-Chi and his siblings bury Zheng Zu's remains next to his brother's grave and with full funeral rites, honoring the man he once was.

To spare his lover and her students from the Emperor's wrath, Shang-Chi killed Tuan; Zu had his son implicated and exiled for the murder to cover up his own involvement.

During their fight, Zu attempts to kill his son with the Spectral Touch technique, only for the move to pass through him, due to Shang-Chi having learned how to become intangible.

[67] Tony Leung Chiu-wai portrays Xu Wenwu in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).