Marvel Studios has opened up the vault to give us a new title character with an epic origin story.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Marvel’s newest entry into the MCU. A martial arts and mythological style movie directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Just Mercy), the movie stands largely on its own among the MCU series with no big ties to previous entries. You’d only require a little bit of previous knowledge going into this movie and even then the moments that connect to the rest of the MCU are far from the important ones. Shang-Chi is a focused, personal story and origin for a brand new character in the MCU.      

Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience) stars as the titular Shang-Chi, on the surface a normal man living in San Francisco working as a valet, but beneath that he is a martial arts expert who ran away from his home in China after objecting to his father’s training methods and ideology. While working with his closest friend Katy (Awkwafina) a group of assassins sent by his own father attack him, revealing to Katy who he really is. 

Shang-Chi travels to find his sister to warn her that their father is after them, which leads him to fight in an underground fighting ring operated by said sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang). She did not run away from home when he did; instead she remained there for much longer until she left.     

They eventually are approached by their father, Xu Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung), a centuries-old man who leads the Ten Rings, a militia who utilize a blend of high tech and martial arts, named after Wenwu’s greatest weapons, the Ten Rings – powerful artifacts that grant the wielder incredible power.

Wenwu was a conqueror hell-bent on controlling the world, which led him to search for a mythical land called Ta Lo to conquer, but what awaited him was one woman defending the gate. After she bested him (even though he has the Ten Rings) with her own martial arts, Wenwu falls love with the woman, known as Li (Fala Chen).

The two have a son and daughter – Shang-Chi and Xialing. When his father decides to conquer Ta Lo again following a great tragedy, Shang-Chi must travel in search of it to protect the land from his father.      

Shang-Chi’s journey leads him on a path of self discovery, trying to find his own identity among the legacy of his father and the heritage of his mother. The movie also has a great high-energy soundtrack with amazingly well-choreographed action scenes and beautiful visuals, along with moments of levity viewers have come to expect from MCU movies. Simu Liu gives a great performance in his first Marvel outing.

Shang-Chi is a great movie for long-time or brand-new fans of the MCU or comic book movies in general. Be sure to stay seated for two post-credit scenes that indicate what adventures await the characters in this film, which will only be available in theaters for 45 days before moving to streaming.