By now you all know the new Marvel Cinematic Universe
movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is out and that means it’s
time for another of my usual cheap tie-in post about their MC2 counterpart.
Without further ado, here is Shang-Chi in the MC2.
Shang-Chi makes his solitary appearance in the MC2 in
a story written by Tom Defalco and pencilled by Ron
Lim from J2 #11. When American Dream of
the Avengers turns down an invitation to participate in a
martial arts contest, J2 aka Zane Yama takes
it upon himself to attend in her place. Travelling via mystical amulet to a
small island, J2 meets the (apparently) blind Howard the Duck, the self-proclaimed Master of Quack-Fu.
From Howard we learn that a few dozen of
the world's greatest martial artists were invited to the contest, but only a
few of the previous generation's 'old fogies' showed up. Among these ‘old
fogies’ is Shang-Chi, sparring with Shen Kuei aka Cat.
Other characters glimpsed include Iron Fist,
the Sons of the Tiger and White Tiger.
Suspecting a
trap, Howard had hoped to stack the deck in his favour
with American Dream, Stuck with J2 instead, Howard attempts
to train the big lug to defend himself but has no success. When J2 reverts
back to Zane Yama after his powers temporarily wear off, he
encounters Blind Al. Concerned for Zane's well-being
in the upcoming contest, Al attempts to get past Weasel to
talk to the mystery person who organised the contest: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool.
Having followed Blind Al, Zane learns the
contest will have a deadly ending. Encountering Deadpool, Zane
turns back into J2 to duke it out with the mercenary. Deadpool
reveals he set up the contest to alleviate his boredom. Having overheard his plans,
Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, White Tiger, Cat and the Sons of
the Tiger proceed to kick Wade’s butt off-panel.
While that’s it for Shang-Chi in the MC2, I’d like to
quickly cover where this version of the character may branch off from the Main
Marvel Universe. My best guess is similar to speculation for the Black Widow,
with Shang-Chi making only a few major appearances in the late 1990’s.
This leads me to suggest either Journey Into Mystery #514-516 or Elektra
#16 as the point of divergence, the latter of which was published in early 1998.
Feel free to disagree and leave me a comment!
Until I stop finding new excuses to discuss my favourite
comic universe, I remain
frogoat