Asian American superhero: Marvel Studios’ 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at theaters today

Simi Liu stars as Shang-Chi, a Marvel superhero.

The excitement surrounding the motion picture Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings  is palpable, especially among AAPI moviegoers.

Shang-Chi, one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year, hits theaters today (Friday, Aug. 3). Featuring a host of Asian American and Asian actors, the buzz surrounding the film has been compared to Crazy Rich Asians, even though the action-packed Marvel product is as different from the romantic comedy as a movie can be.

The two movies representing different genres,  are similar in one important way: the lead characters and the supporting cast are all of Asian descent.

Before Shang-Chi's debut, Marvel Studios released a featurette titled "Ready To Rise," interviewing the cast alongside director Asian American director Destin Daniel Cretton and Asian American screenwriter Dave Callaham and Simu Liu in the titular role and cast members Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh exploring the importance of the movie's Asian representation.

"The story of Shang-Chi was actually very personal.," said Cretton, who is Japanese American. "I wanted to look at what a superhero could be. What it would mean to me. To be able to add not only one character, Shang-Chi, but to add a whole cornucopia of Asian faces that are representing something I've never really seen before."

The experience of writing for an Asian American character struck a chord with screenwriter Callahan, whose 20-year career includes writing credits for Godzilla and Wonder Woman.

I’ve never had an experience like this," said the Chinese American writer. "The moment I realized that was day three or four of writing the script ... I got very emotional and I couldn’t figure out why," he told Nerds of Color. 

"I sat back from my chair and I really checked in with myself and I audited what was happening. I realized, holy shit. I’ve never in my 19 years of writing actually been asked to write anything even resembling my experience.”

That sentiment was echoed by the movie's star Liu. "For many of us who grew up in the west, whose parents immigrated, we never really saw ourselves on screen meaningfully," says Chinese Canadian Liu, who starred in the Asian Canadian sitcoms,  Netflix's Kim's Convenience, which finished the production of its fifth and final season this year.

To help the film impress Disney and other Hollywood studios, the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans in Entertainment (CAPE) and Gold House are encouraging Asian Americans to host viewing events by buying out a theater to increase the box office draw of the movie.

The Marvel's movies staring their Pantheon of comic book superheroes  is the biggest film franchise on the planet right now, according to Gold House president Bing Chen, who said there's a lot on the line this weekend for members of the AAPI community who want to see more Hollywood films and TV shows starring Asian Americans.

"If we can show that we can actually hold our own ground opening weekend through the biggest film franchise in the world, that is going to unlock other opportunities in other major franchises, as well as independent films, for AAPIs to lead," Chen told CNN Business. "We're two-thirds of the world and there are still people who don't believe we can open films ... A single movie does not change the world forever, but it does start to stoke it."