Shang-Chi’s Runaway Bus Scene Actually Destroyed a Dozen Real Sports Cars

Blockbusters use a fair amount of CGI throughout the production process, especially when involving superheroes, supervillains, and a whole lot of destruction. Sometimes computer-generated imagery is used when productions can’t film certain sequences for a variety of reasons. Take Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as an example. Due to COVID-related travel restrictions, the film’s second unit couldn’t actually film scenes in Macau. Instead, a visual effects vendor build the region from the ground up.

One area the production didn’t skimp on, however, was the bus chase sequence and all the cars the production destroyed. While some of the sequence involved the use of CGI, the bus itself still ended up destroying over a dozen sports cars.

“Well, we destroyed quite a few cars,” Shang-Chi special effects coordinator Dan Oliver tells us. “There’s obviously the awesome cut at the end when the bus is coming down the hill and actually really did just smash through all those sports cars and [we] just write them all off.”

He adds, “There was a lot of crashing and a lot of broken hearts, seeing all those cars get smashed, but it was very cool.”

Joe Farrell, an additional visual effects supervisor on the project, went on to add it was a sequence that could only have been filmed on the winding streets of San Francisco.

“That was a gift for the San Francisco local people. We knew that sequence would be pretty awesome when they just started to destroy parts of San Francisco’s real streets,” Farrell says. He went on to add the production destroyed 15 cars between two separate takes of the sequence.

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now available on Disney+, all major digital platforms, and wherever physical movies are sold. Shang-Chi 2 doesn’t have a release window yet.

What’d you think of Shang-Chi’s film debut? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!