Some eagle-eyed Marvel fans have spotted some homages to the surreal 2004 Chinese action-comedy Kung Fu Hustle in Shang-Chi.
It’s no wonder Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton was inspired by the Stephen Chow-directed Kung Fu Hustle, since both movies heavily involve martial arts. And while Kung Fu Hustle does make unique use of special effects for an almost cartoonish style, Shang-Chi obviously has its roots in comic books, so it also boasts a somewhat larger-than-life tone at times.
A user on Reddit posted side-by-side comparisons of the two movies on the MarvelStudios subreddit, which included Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi even having a Kung Fu Hustle poster in his San Francisco bedroom. In addition, the tailor kung fu master from Kung Fu Hustle wears ten rings on each hand in a similar manner to the Marvel movie. Characters also deflected projectiles with a stick in both films and the motif of the Buddha’s palm, or a hero outstretching his hand down toward the camera from high up in the sky, can be seen in both movies.
Another neat Easter Egg that fans noticed was that actor Wah Yuen actually appears in both Kung Fu Hustle, as the landlord, and Shang-Chi, as Master Guang Bo.
We’re grateful for Stephen Chow inspiring filmmakers the world over with his unique martial arts comedy since it obviously helped Destin Daniel Cretton’s vision of bringing Shang-Chi to the screen, which is arguably one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s finer films.
If you still haven’t seen it, you can watch Shang-Chi right now on Disney Plus in an enhanced IMAX mode, great for catching any and all Kung Fu Hustle references we might’ve missed.