Shang-Chi Artist Shares Spookiest Marvel Concept Art Yet

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings thrust fans right into a mystical part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that had yet been introduced. Featuring Simu Liu in the eponymous role, Shang-Chi gave fans multiple dragons, even dipping its toes into horror when introducing the primary antagonist of the picture.

If you’ve seen the flick, you know by now the Dweller-in-Darkness was joined by legions of soul-sucking beasts the swarmed the mystical city of Ta Lo, stealing the souls of its protectors. As it turns out, the soul-sucking demons could have been much more spooky. Tuesday, visual development artist Jerad Marantz shared some early concepts of the beings, making them like a zombified centaur.

“Here’s one of my favorite unused creatures for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Marantz said on another Instagram post. “So this was during a bit of a blue sky phase, trying to figure out what the first wave of demons would look like that fight the villagers. A lot of people don’t realize that filmmaking is a very organic process and as we are designing the script is being refined, so the parameters of the assignment could change at any time.”

The artist went on to explain this version of the dragon henchmen would actually fight in hand-to-hand combat with the people of Ta Lo.

“In this pass I was working on a version that would fight hand-in-hand with the villagers and be able to fly and crawl as well,” Marantz added. “So much fun! Incredible time working with a team over at Marvel visual development and the head of the team, my buddy Andy Park.”

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!