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- Base Breaker: Katy. Similar to Darcy Lewis, people argue if she's a funny everyman or an annoying load. Though she doesn't seem as divisive as Darcy was.
- Critical Research Failure: Memes aside, a scene depicting Ying Li expressing pride in her son Shang-Chi has led Chinese viewers to question Marvel Studios' understanding of how Asian parents typically interact with their children.
- Deader Than Disco: Simu Liu's "bombed so hard we'll make a sequel" comment. This movie (as well as the rest of the MCU's 2021 output) ushered in a Seasonal Rot, and indeed, Only in It For the Money is often cited as one of the chief reasons for it, so Simu saying "box office equals quality, fuck the reviews" aged like milk. Notably, in recent years, the MCU has started to make a conscious effort to make their movies critically acclaimed rather than just commercially successful, and Ryan Reynolds' QR statement when promoting Deadpool & Wolverine can be seen as a Take That! to Simu's statement.
- Fandom Rivalry: Zack Snyder's DC Extended Universe fans dislike the film for being the first major superhero film starring a person of Asian descent. Because Snyder had hoped to give that honor to DC's Ryan Choi. Yes, they're hating on this film because of a hypothetical movie that never got off the ground. Though Simu Liu being a fan of Zack Snyder's Justice League did soothe this a little.
- Genius Bonus: Morris is a Hundun, a creature from Chinese mythology.
- Just Here for Godzilla: A notable Inversion. Most people watch the movie either just to see Simu Liu kicking ass, to see a Cult Classic character in his first non-comic appearance, to see Michelle Yeo in an MCU role, or all three, and don't particularly care for the "real Mandarin" angle. Notably, whenever youtube reviews get to the Iron Man 3-related parts, the reviewers either act annoyed at their presence, try to get them over as quickly as possible, or both. Indeed, it seems "the mainstream's first real exposure to Shang-Chi" is this movie's legacy, while "introduced the real MCU Mandarin" is barely a footnote.
- Unexpected Character: Given that this film was announced to have the real Mandarin show up, few could have guessed that Trevor Slattery, the fake Mandarin, would make his return.