Magic Dragon IPA with ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’

It’s not the best MCU movie, but it does deliver on the fun and action! Oh, and there’s magical dragons. 

The Movie: Superhero Action-Adventure / 2021 / Marvel Studios – Disney

The Beer: Imperial IPA with “an audacious amount of hops” / 8.5% ABV / Hop Haus Brewing Co. – Verona, WI

*Spoilers Ahead!*

Another Marvel superhero kicking butt onscreen mere months after Black Widow? The MCU is fully back, baby!

Black Widow back-tracked to fill some gaps while WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki got us caught up with some of our franchise favorites. But Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is extra exciting because it kicks off the first new cinematic character arc of Phase 4! And since it’s not streaming immediately, it’s also a return to traditional big blockbuster theater releases (a pro or con depending on how you look at it).

Thanks to an occasionally dull narrative and some missed opportunities for action, it’s not the best MCU movie ever. But Shang-Chi definitely still offers a good time. Plus with a storyline that leans heavily on Chinese culture and mythological influences, it’s another great example of the franchise departing from the traditional superhero movie template.

By the way, if you ignored the “Spoilers” warning above and haven’t seen the movie yet (and still want to be surprised when you do watch), this is your cue to stop reading. Here’s some more superhero stuff that might not be as new and spoiler-y.

For those still here, I’ll assume you’ve already seen the movie and are now looking for a review or a beer pairing for when you re-watch. Or you simply don’t care about spoilers (in which case you sound super chill and we should be friends.) Either way, we’re all good and I can talk about how Shang-Chi (Canadian actor and stuntman Simu Liu) dies now right?

That was a test, and if you’ve seen the movie you know he very much survives it. The same can’t be said for his dad and ruler of the Ten Rings, Xu Wenwu. Played by Tony Leung, Wenwu shows how the MCU has become increasingly better at fleshing out its villains. He’s at once terrifyingly powerful and a heartbroken family man. He’s a guy you can connect with, even though you know right away things aren’t going to play out in his favor. If he wasn’t killed off, he and Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming should really hang out.

Aside from the tragic moments, the introduction of Shang-Chi to the film franchise is certainly a lot of fun — replete with awesome Kung-Fu fight scenes, plenty of references for movie nerds and the delightfully witty Awkwafina as sidekick Katy (go watch Nora from Queens already if you’re not). The magic dragons are also pretty darn majestic, and I’m all about them. If anything, my biggest complaints are that there aren’t more magic dragons or Kung-Fu (the bus scene is super badass, but it’s near the beginning and makes the following fight sequences feel like kind of a letdown).

Also worth mentioning is the movie’s resurrection of Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, a.k.a Iron Man 3‘s The Mandarin. Audiences heavily criticized Marvel back in 2013 for whitewashing what was originally an Asian villain. Interestingly, however, Kingsley’s rendition was a reformative effort by the MCU to make amends for the comic book Mandarin, which played heavily on unflattering Asian stereotypes. Shang-Chi is yet a further attempt to clean up the mess.

Which it does, sort of. Now a prisoner of Wenwu, Trevor learned his lesson. He’s also the subject of ridicule for choosing “The Mandarin” name in the first place. This creates confusion as to whether Trevor’s “Ten Rings” was even related to Wenwu’s, but ultimately it doesn’t really matter. Trevor’s more concerned about a faceless winged ottoman named “Morris” these days anyway, and nobody seems too concerned about Trevor.

Speaking of magical creatures, here’s a beer pairing for when you stream Shang-Chi at home!

Magic Dragon IPA is ideal for this movie and beer pairing because, dragons. It’s also a pretty darn good hopbomb. The brewers at Hop Haus used “an audacious amount of hops,” and it shows. The nose is all bright citrus, while the palate is more complex with orange, ruby red grapefruit and mango bursts. Plus, it’s made with real bits of dragon, so you know its good!

That last bit is actually what the brewers say in their description, so blame them if you’re anti-slaying. They also say, “Hop on the dragon, frolic in the autumn mist, and get ready for some magic.” Which is definitely a fun way to describe this juicy experience. It’s smooth too with just a little bite underneath, like a silky shirt made of dragon scales.

Not living in Wisconsin, I haven’t tasted nearly enough of Hop Haus’ IPAs. But just as I’ll happily revisit Shang-Chi when it’s streaming, I’m looking forward to trying more.

Cheers! And happy Marvel-watching.