This Week in Marvel Spars with 'Shang-Chi' Writer Gene Luen Yang

This week marked the return of one of Marvel's most legendary fighters! On This Week in Marvel, Ryan "Agent M" Penagos and Lorraine Cink welcomed Gene Luen Yang, the writer of the new solo SHANG-CHI miniseries that debuted this week. In their conversation, Yang reveals why, as a young comics reader -- and a son of Asian immigrants -- he wasn't initially a Shang-Chi fan:

“I have to be honest, I was not a fan of Shang-Chi as a character. ... [L]ike a lot of immigrant kids, I did go through this period of time where I felt kind of embarrassed of my own cultural heritage. I was embarrassed of my parents' accent, I was embarrassed about the ways in which I looked different from most of my other classmates. So to be, like, the Asian kid at the local comic shop, picking up the comic with a Chinese hero in it, just felt like I was highlighting all the stuff that made me different. So for a really long time I just avoided him.”

He later says, “The history of American comics feels like the history of America.”

Hear all about how the new SHANG-CHI came together, then stay for even more Marvel developments including news about Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Marvel's 616 on Disney+ and more!

Don't forget to pick up SHANG CHI #1, written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Dike Ruan, at your local comic shop or digitally! AND make sure to pre-order SHANG-CHI #2, on sale Wednesday, October 28!

You can listen to this week's full audio episode right here:

With new episodes every Friday, This Week in Marvel delivers all the latest Marvel discussion and news about comics, TV, movies, games, toys, and beyond! Tweet your questions and comments about the show to @AgentM, @lorrainecink, or @Marvel with the hashtag #ThisWeekinMarvel!