Marvel's Shang-Chi Trailer Receives Negative Criticism In China

In recent weeks, Marvel Studios has been showering fans with new trailers and first looks at a variety of upcoming projects. The most recent drop was a glimpse at the MCU's newest hero, Shang-Chi, in the form of an official trailer. 

Simu Liu, who will star as the titular character in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, shared a first look image of the Master Of Kung Fu, before seemingly being surprised by Marvel Studios with the full-length trailer, on his birthday. 

And while the internet was abuzz about the action-packed preview, there seems to be less excitement for the film in China.

SHANG-CHI "RATIOED" IN CHINA

As pointed out by Reddit user u/alanjinqq, the statistics for the trailer on the MarvelTW and Marvel Studios Hong Kong YouTube accounts are less than favorable. 

Out of approximately 3,400 viewers who weighed in on the Taiwan account, roughly 1,600 of them disliked the trailer. And similar results came for the Hong Kong audience, as 600 of the 1,022 voters disapproved. 

That is a 53% and 42% approval rate on the YouTube metric respectively. For comparison, the most recent Black Widow trailer had well above 99% approval rating on both accounts. 

HATE FOR SHANG-CHI, LOVE FOR TONY LEUNG

The comments for each of these videos give some hints as to why fans in the Eastern hemisphere aren't as excited as the American audience. 

One complaint from fans was this trailer portraying a Chinese film being made by "westerners". With so much Asian representation in the cast of this movie, YouTube commentators seem to be searching for a more traditional Asian movie-making presence. 

Another big topic of interest in the comment section was the presence of actor Tony Leung who plays Wenwu, Shang-Chi's father, and The Mandarin. There was a ton of chatter about how Leung's charisma, charm, and good looks overshadowed that of Simu Liu. 

Some other top comments are critical of the appearance of Simu Liu's titular hero, believing that he doesn't have the ideal face for the titular Chinese superhero.

While the promotional efforts for this revolutionary film are just getting started, the early pulse check of Chinese markets for Shang-Chi And The Legends Of The Ten Rings is seemingly off to a rocky start.