Marvel’s Master of Kung-Fu will soon join the MCU in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. But his journey to get there wasn’t always an easy one, according to director Destin Daniel Cretton. Collider recently spoke with Cretton to talk about his latest film, Just Mercy. When the subject of Shang-Chi came up, Cretton shared how he felt during his initial meeting with Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige.
“Yeah, it’s terrifying,” said Cretton. “I didn’t think I was going to get it, so that helps you feel not as terrified. The process of pitching is like anything. You just go in and speak your heart, and speak what you feel is important, and what you would love to do. And if they respond to that, then that’s going to be a good relationship. If they don’t respond to it, you don’t get the job, and it’s probably good that you don’t get the job.”
Fortunately, he did get the call back, and he praised the studio’s welcoming tone.
“They’re all so warm there,” added Cretton. “It’s a really warm family. So, it was a lot of hugs, and then it’s just, ‘Let’s get to work.’”
Cretton also had nothing but good things to say about Shang-Chi‘s cinematographer, Bill Pope. Since Pope is best known for his work on The Matrix, many fans are excited to see what he brings to the film’s action scenes.
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“He has a really beautiful style, that’s both naturalistic and grounded, but also heightened, in the best way,” he explained. “And anybody who can shoot The Matrix is probably gonna do great with this one.”
Obviously, there’s a lot riding on Shang-Chi, since it will be Marvel’s first film to feature an Asian lead. Being of Asian descent himself, Cretton understands what this means. In fact, he reflected on what he would have told a younger version of himself about making a movie like this.
“It would have been amazing because I would have been able to have a superhero that looked like me, rather than choosing the superheroes that I could imagine looking like me, under the mask,” Cretton said. “I was really into Spider-Man, or even the Incredible Hulk, because they I could picture myself under the Spider-Man mask, or as The Hulk because, when he was The Hulk, he was not really specific to any ethnicity. So, it’ll be nice to give that kid somebody who he can at least say, ‘Oh, that one looks like me.'”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opens on February 21, 2021. What do you think about Cretton getting the directing job for the film? Let us know in the comments below!
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