It’s hard to feel sorry for Simu Liu right now. He’s gorgeous, in the prime of his life, clearly having a whale of a time, and after literally tweeting at Marvel to make him Shang-Chi three years ago, he’s just broken Labor Day box office records as the iconic superhero, being paid millions for the privilege and earning just as many adoring fans in the process. But he’s also upstaged not once, but twice, in his own damn movie. Tony Leung, the legendary Hong Kong actor making his Hollywood debut, joins the upper echelon of Marvel villain turns with Hela, Zemo, and Killmonger, but most people who have seen Leung’s work might have expected as much. More surprising is that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings belongs to Awkwafina’s Katy as much as it does to Liu’s protagonist, and that’s mostly because she’s actually his friend, rather than his sidekick. Surprisingly, that’s a rare occurrence in the MCU.
Think of all the friendships, bromances, and buddy duos in this cinematic universe. Now, take out all of the ones where both sides of the duo are superheroes - that’s a team-up rather than a friendship. Already, we aren’t left with that many. Peter and Ned? Ned is a sidekick. Scott and Luis? Luis is a sidekick. Tony and JARVIS or Tony and FRIDAY? AIs don’t count, they’re clearly sidekicks. Carol and Maria? Sure, they’re just friends. Just gal pals being gals.
Even amongst the double supe duos, it often feels like more of a rivalry, like Bucky and Sam, or a working relationship forged of mutual respect, like Okoye and T’Challa. Duos seem to be in right now - WandaVision, Loki, Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi all rely on duos, while Doctor Strange’s next two appearances will see him partner first with Spider-Man then with Scarlet Witch. There’s also Hawkeye, where Clint will pass the torch to Kate Bishop, and The Marvels, which will see Carol training Kamala Khan. None of the duos aside from Shang-Chi and Katy are actually friends though, and that makes them far more unique than most Marvel screen pairings.
To be blunt, Katy offers no value whatsoever to Shang-Chi as a sidekick. She’s a great driver, which makes her a key part of the surely-soon-to-be-iconic bus fight, but that’s pretty much it. Her driving occasionally comes in handy, but she’s not a tech whiz, she doesn’t invent or hack anything, she’s not an enforcer, she has no power or connections… She’s just a woman who’s fun to be around. In the final battle she fires a bow and arrow she only learned to use the day before - she’s not War Machine.
Most friendships in the MCU are seen as a value equation. Whatever is missing from a hero’s arsenal, one of their friends just so happens to have the skillset to fill it. With Katy, their connection is much more natural, and clearly outlined as a friendship rather than anything romantically aligned.
Shang-Chi feels like a much better film - though a far less ‘Marvel’ movie - when it follows Shaun, rather than Shang-Chi. Though he doesn’t do it with a mask or a suit, Shang-Chi is hiding his identity, living an unglamorous life as a second generation immigrant named Shaun. Shaun works as a valet with Katy, whom he met when she intervened as he was being racially abused by loudly singing Hotel California in the assailant’s face until he stumbled away confused. Shaun and Katy stay out late, joyride in ‘borrowed’ cars, sing Old Town Road on karaoke and generally have as good a time as two penniless losers in a city that doesn’t love them back are able to have.
As Shang-Chi and Katy, they still have fun, with Shaun’s personality remaining intact - she even teases his decision to change his name from Shang (pronounced Shong) to Shaun, given that the words sound almost identical. But something of the magic is lost; they’re no longer two kids on the edge of life. They’re superheroes, or at least Shaun is, and that means we need monsters and prophecies and special effects out the wazoo. Their friendship remains, and that means there’s hope for the future, but the MCU badly needs more grounded connections like Shaun and Katy, and wherever Shang-Chi goes next, that needs to be preserved.