ABSTRACT
In the early 1970s, Marvel Comics created a Chinese American character whose martial arts allowed him to perform extraordinary tasks, such as leaping on to an aircraft as it begins to soar in the air or defeating sophisticated robots programmed to kill. Shang-Chi, the new comics hero, is a hybridization of three popular characters of the past and consequently, he has to wrestle with the tensions created by such an amalgamation. Shang-Chi becomes the quintessential Chinese immigrant hero who simultaneously fights for the West, severs his relationship with his Chinese father, and then returns to China when the job is done. Shang-Chi epitomizes the kung fu excitement popularized by Bruce Lee. Physical strength, natural forces, cultural stability, and the universality of male dominance reaffirmed the traditional roles of men and women in order to counter feminist calls for equality, women’s rights, and an end to domestic violence, rape, and sexist ideological practices.
