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Wenwu: Did Marvel give its Best ever Antagonist in Shang Chi?

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The newly released Shang Chi is doing the rounds among Marvel fans, not for the protagonist, but for the antagonist- Wenwu. Why? Here is your answer.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is another masterwork of Marvel Studios. Other production companies involved are Fox Studios Australia and Walt Disney Pictures. Just hitting the theaters in India with a bang on 2nd September, it has already seen huge success. It is based on Marvel Comics with a big cast. The cast consists of more than 10 actors and Marvel lovers are loving the film. Shang Chi is a famous martial arts master. Simu Liu has magnificently played his character.

Shang Chi finally needs to confront his past after returning to the Ten Rings organization. Tony Leung who plays the character of Wenwu known as Xu Wenwu had discovered ten rings many years ago. These are mystical weapons with godly powers like immortality and others. In his quest to conquer more areas, he reaches a forest that is magical and meets Ying Li. These two give birth to Xialing and the master Shang Chi. He then holds the organization for family time. Then Shang Chi goes through rigorous martial arts training.

How Wenwu fits in the Marvel world?

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He is both a powerful conqueror and an estranged father. Leaving his heart-loved organization to be with his family and returning to train Shang Chi can be seen as a father figure deed. Throughout the film, we explore his various faces.

From being the immortal hero who can do anything to conquer more power, to providing ruthless training to Shang Chi, and to an expression of romance and an antihero, he has been all. No matter how we may perceive him as being the father who has taught his son to be an assassin since childhood, he still receives a lot of sympathy from the audience.

The viewers are able to strike an immediate emotional attachment with the character. Tony Leung has been an eminent figure in the Hong Kong movie industry. The portrayal of pure emotions through a calm and relaxed face instantly connects the viewers. The teary eyes and powerful acting leaves a mark in every aspect. The character he plays outshines in every phase of the film.

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Wenwu: The Best Sympathetic Antagonist

Marvel has done justice to this skillful actor by presenting Wenwu’s story allying wonderfully with Shang Chi. We experience his different phases throughout the film, as he is first seen as the lover of power.


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Ta-lo, the village known to provide a way to the divine world is his last stop. He is then held up there. There is a realization of his wife, making the scene high in sexual intensity. Then there are the flashbacks of how they both had left the village and were happy, leaving behind the ten rings. The tragedy strikes when his wife, Ying Li is murdered by a rival group. After this Wenwu has to return to power. The incident had left a big mark on him and here he is seen as the utmost villain as he seeks revenge. Seen filling his children with the same poisons he leaves them with a scarred childhood.

They both couldn’t handle it and ran away, only to reunite in adulthood and remember the past. This puts Wenwu somewhere in between a mourning husband, not a good dad, and a powerful and revengeful mystical conquer.

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The eyes are performers themselves

wenwu shang chi


His eyes are the best part of his acting, expressing every little detail of sadness and the feelings of loneliness. Leung’s hooded eyes, which regularly reveal the seething emotions underneath his calm exterior, and his flawless jawline, which appears to have been carved by the angels, When they sat at the dinner table, his eyes could tell how much he missed them and resented them for their mother’s sudden death.

In China, he’s known as “The Man Who Can Speak With His Eyes,” a tribute to his ability to communicate via his gaze. It’s a skill Leung has now been perfecting since his debut movie. He first appeared in Hou Hsiao Hsien’s Taiwanese drama “A City of Sadness,” in which he portrayed a deaf and dumb man who could only connect using his face.

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Eyes that quiver at the family dinner, being unable to express how really he has missed them and just how much he still loathes them for his wife’s murder. As an evil power persuade Wenwu to think his dead wife is locked beyond a gateway guarded by Ta-Lo as a punishment for having a relationship with him, his eyes grow laser-focused. Simu Liu with his four facial expressions had no chance.

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The Heartfelt Self-Sacrifice

As Wenwu plans to destroy Ta-Lo, we can understand that his plan is only a manifestation of his suffering, living without his wife. Shang Chi understands that he needs to go back to the training he has escaped to stop his father from carrying out his vicious plan. Though we can see that Wenwu is not considered a good father but in his heart, he feels lonely and misses his children.

Losing his wife and then his children running away had left him in a lot of despair. Marvel has shown us many villains, strong and charismatic but absolutely evil. The evil bits and pieces have a deep-rooted emotional attachment here. Shang Chi’s plan of killing his father obviously doesn’t go well. Here Wenwu’s self-sacrifice for his son makes him an antihero, a villain leaving with a powerful message.

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An impressed fan

The majority of the antagonists the superheroes face are either just like the protagonist, but wicked or they have a sort of has a purpose, but love Killing. Wenwu is in the center here, but he has one foot elevated since he possesses Tony Leung’s charm. I am sure all the Marvel fans who went into this movie knew nothing about Wenwu. But coming out, he becomes one of your favorite characters in the MCU big bad lineup.

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Kashish Chadha
Kashish Chadhahttp://movque.com
A long-lost writer, catching up with her doctor's degree, Kashish Chadha is a fun-loving person. Creating content is more than just a hobby for her, while academically she is currently pursuing Dentistry.

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