by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige reveals that audiences in early screenings of Shang-Chi confused some of the film’s creatures with Pokémon.
Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings features several creatures straight out of classic Chinese mythology– some well-known spirits and some more obscure beasts. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently revealed that audiences at early screenings seemed to confuse a few of these creatures with Pokémon characters.
In an interview with Collider, Feige explained, “The only thing that’s surprised me in early reactions, and I don’t know if this has been online, but it was in some of the early screenings, a lot of the reference points…Some people think there are a couple of Pokémon characters in there, they’re not Pokémon characters, but similar things inspire them, I guess, which took me by surprise.”
As Pokémon draws from various natural and mythical creatures as inspiration for its 900 pocket monsters, there are bound to be more than a few similarities. In this case, there is one clear example: the Huli jin that briefly appears in the final act of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is based on a mischievous nine-tailed fox spirit in Chinese mythology, which also served as the basis for one of the original 150 Pokémon, details– the Fire Type Pokémon with golden-white fur and nine tails.
Huli jing was introduced to Chinese mythology in the ancient text known as the Classic of Mountain and Sea, which is over 2,000 years old. After several edits, I came to describe the creature as a shapeshifting spirit whose cry resembled that of a baby and who devoured men. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a pack of Huli jing appears briefly as Shang-Chi, Katy, Xialing, and Trevor Slattery drive through the forest to Ta Lo. None of the animals perform any mischief or display any shapeshifting powers in front of the titular hero and his allies.
Shang-Chi premiered in the U.S on Sept. 3. Throughout its Labor Day weekend, the Marvel Studios film earned $29.6 million domestically in Friday night ticket sales from 4,300 theaters and is expected to earn between $75-80 million in its four-day opening weekend. Shang-Chi will break the all-time Labor Day weekend box office record if these projections are met, beating 2007’s Halloween.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, and Tony Leung, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has received critical acclaim for its action sequences and villain, Leung’s Wenwu.
