Simu Liu Points Out Shang-Chi is Inspired by Bruce Lee

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu brought up a comparison of his titular Marvel hero to kung fu icon Bruce Lee. Liu has been having a blast with his role as Shang-Chi on Twitter, interacting with fans and other celebrities since being announced for the part at San Diego Comic Con in 2019. Now, in response to a photo posted by Ice Cube, he called a bit of attention to his character in an epic way. Ice Cube shared a photo of Bruce Lee with the words, "Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality," on it. His caption for the photo read, "Marvel is cool. But give me Bruce Lee. Real life super hero."

This is where Liu comes in. "What if I told you there was a character loosely based on him in the comics book?" Liu wrote. The visual appearance of Shang-Chi was inspired by Bruce Lee from artist Paul Gulacy, to the point that Stan Lee once wished to see Bruce Lee portray the character in a movie.

Check out Liu's exchange with Ice Cube in the tweets below!

What if I told you there was a character loosely based on him in the comic books???? 😮

— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) June 8, 2020

Shang-Chi is one of the characters who will headline a movie in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe following Avengers: Endgame. The movie will began production in Australia under the direction of Destin Daniel Cretton. Not many other details have been revealed but Shang-Chi co-creator Jim Starlin has certain hopes for the upcoming Marvel Studios film.

"I didn't know that it was coming," Starlin admitted to ComicBook.com. "They only announced it a couple of weeks before the Endgame came out, and my wife and I were in South Africa, sort of trying to avoid most publicity stuff and so I'd never heard about it until I came back and some reporter I was talking to, I guess it was Monday, told me about it."

Marvel's updated release schedule sees Black Widow dropping in theaters on November 6th. It is followed Eternals on February 12, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on May 5 2021, Spider-Man: Homecoming 3 on November 5, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 11, 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022, Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. Disney+ also has The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, What If...? Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight on the way.