Shang-Chi

Raised by his criminal mastermind father Fu Manchu to be a perfect assassin, Zheng Shang-Chi dedicated his life to the martial arts. Upon learning the truth of his father's evil, he renounced that legacy and turned his extraordinary skills toward justice.

Few characters arrived with the sheer kinetic force of Shang-Chi, who exploded onto the Bronze Age Marvel scene in Special Marvel Edition #15 (1973), conjured by the remarkable creative pairing of Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin. Born into one of the most distinctive corners of the Marvel Universe, he carved out his legacy across the pages of Master of Kung Fu and The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu — titles that gave him room to breathe, brood, and dazzle — while sharing adventures with a rich cast including Leiko Wu, Black Jack Tarr, Clive Reston, and even Spider-Man himself. With 394 catalog appearances spanning an extraordinary 53 years, ten of them recognized as key collector issues, Shang-Chi is no footnote — he's a cornerstone, a character whose staying power from the Bronze Age all the way to 2026 speaks to something genuinely timeless at his core. If you haven't spent time with his stories, you're missing one of Marvel's most atmospheric and enduring figures.