All creators end up in some way using their childhood series and stories that were formative for them in their creations. And to feel a little old, we’ve reached that point where ‘Dragon Ball’ and ‘Dragon Ball Z’ they were the childhood series of those who are now in charge of the great blockbusters.
‘Shan-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ had a good dose of references to certain Asian movies, but the anime also had a significant influence on it. the marvel moviel. Specifically, ‘Dragon Ball’ was one of the key pieces to define much of the visual stylefrom the way Shang-Chi fights to even the way he dresses.
Toriyama influences gushing
This reference is slightly difficult to catch, but Simu Liu’s character appears wearing an orange jacket with blue sleeves similar to Goku’s Gi. Specifically, it is very similar to the official ‘Dragon Ball’ varsity jackets that can be purchased in stores, albeit without any visible logo.
The references to Goku don’t end there, as ‘Shang-Chi’s fighting pose, with one fist drawn and ready to attack, is also very similar to Goku’s iconic fighting pose.
And of course, could not miss Shang Chi’s “Kamehameha”since when he displays all the power of the Ten Rings he has a pose just like Goku’s with his energy ball.
This wink is completely deliberate, and Katy, the character from awkwafina, even goes so far as to refer to this attack as “the Kamehameha fireball”. Director Destin Daniel Cretton He has also confirmed that ‘Dragon Ball Z’ specifically is one of the big influences straight out of his childhood.
“I grew up with ‘Dragon Ball Z,’ and I used a clip of Goku doing the Kamehameha. In the movie, there’s a tug-of-war moment with father and son,” Cretton explained of the ‘Shang-Chi’ final match. “In ‘Dragon Ball Z’ there is a scene with a Kamehameha that lasts forever, and of course we used it as inspiration for the movie.”
The references to ‘Dragon Ball’ do not end only in duels and moments with Goku… Because in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ they also paid tribute to the iconic opening of ‘Dragon Ball Z’ with Gohan jumping from mountain to mountain and Shenron appearing from the clouds.
In ‘Shang-Chi’, the sequence was not so idyllic and was much more tensebut the moment with the protagonist running in front of a gigantic dragon was a direct nod to the anime and one more small easter egg for the film.