Avoiding racial stereotypes was most important, says Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige

'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' being the first superhero film with an Asian lead, avoiding racial stero types was of crucial importance to Kevin Feige--Marvel Studios President--reports Indian news agency PTI in its exclusive interview with the head honcho. 

"Avoiding racial stereotypes was most important because that is not what any one of us was interested in. We were interested in bringing a new Marvel hero to the screen, who could inspire people around the world--people in Asia, America, the East and the West. "At every turn, we wanted to avoid stereotypes. The best way to do that is through the people we hired. You hire amazing people who are amongst the culture that we are portraying in the movie. Dave Callaham (writer), Destin Cretton, Simu, Tony and Michelle Yeoh, all brought nothing but respect and talent to bring this story alive," Feige was quoted as saying.

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Feige also mentioned the addition of Tony Leung Chiu-Wai to the film ."We at Marvel have been lucky to have worked with a lot of famous actors, people you could call living legends (but) none of them are as impressive or hit that term legend as much as Tony. He had never been to a Hollywood set before. I live in Los Angeles, sometimes you see other actors around, but Tony was just this mythical figure only in these amazing movies. Meeting him personally, which I only did briefly before the shutdown, was incredible. Wenwu is a new character. We really wanted him to have villainous overtones but to be this well-rounded tragic figure that you feel for in a deep way. Nobody is better than Tony for this. We had high expectations for what he will be able to bring to this movie and he surpassed them all. It is an extremely special performance," said Feige. 

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'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' will see Chinese-Canadian star Simu Liu as the first Asian to lead a Marvel film along with other stars like Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu and Benedict Wong.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film is set for release in India on September 3.