If Marvel had done a straight depiction of The Mandarin, it would have been harmful and offensive to the Asian community. Shang-Chi‘s Mandarin is depicted as a villain, but one who was changed by love,and then tarnished by loss and power. Oh, and the inclusion of Tony Leung’s Xu Wenwu also allows Marvel to rewrite the origins of Shang-Chi’s father, who was originally Fu Manchu, a character also marked by being a racist Chinese villain. As Leung told Elle, he sees his character as a “sociopath, a narcissist, a bigot” based on a lifetime of experiences rather than a MCU character defined by simply being the bad guy.
Source: Cinema Blend
