Another classic superhero from the pages of Marvel Comics is in the very earliest stages of coming to the big screen, as Deadline is reporting Marvel Studios is looking to move quickly on a film about their long running character Shang-Chi (Marvel has yet to confirm this report). It would be their first movie with an Asian hero in the leading role. It’s rumored that Marvel has hired Chinese-American screenwriter Dave Callaham to write the script, and it appears the company very much wants a director of Asian descent to helm the film. Callaham already has strong ties to beloved geeky properties, as he co-wrote the script for Wonder Woman 1984, and will be writing the just-announced sequel Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2.

Shang-Chi has been a Marvel Comics staple for 45 years, first appearing in Special Marvel Edition #15 in December 1973. The character was likely meant as a cash-in on the ’70s movie trend of Asian kung-fu cinema, but Shang-Chi lasted way beyond that initial fad. Shang-Chi’s own series, Master of Kung-Fu, lasted 125 issues and nearly ten years. In the comics, Shang-Chi is trained from childhood in seclusion; he becomes the world’s greatest martial artist.

A year ago, we would have sworn Shang-Chi would be the recipient of his own Marvel Netflix series, seeing as he is a more ground level character, but with the cancellation of Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, it seems Marvel has much bigger plans for him. And since a movie brings a bigger budget than a TV series, you can expect to see the mystical side of Shang-Chi’s mythos explored more on the big screen.

Images: Marvel Comics