Marvel boss Kevin Feige isn't exactly holding his breath for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to be recognized at awards season. The highest-grossing domestic release of the year, Shang-Chi was a big hit for Marvel Studios, drawing praise from critics in addition to big earnings at the box office. It has also spawned a new franchise with Destin Daniel Cretton developing a sequel and a Disney+ series.

Because of the acclaim, Feige is hopeful that Shang-Chi will make a splash at the Academy Awards, but he's the first to admit that getting recognized at the event is an uphill battle for comic book adaptations. In a recent interview with THR, the Marvel Studios exec explained how the Black Panther Oscar wins for composer Ludwig Göransson, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, and production designers Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart was a tremendous accomplishment that meant a lot for Marvel. Feige also suggests a "genre bias" may prevent Shang-Chi from doing the same, but he still hopes to see it happen.

“I think we are always at a deficit because of the Marvel logo and because of a genre bias that certainly exists. I just loved that for a shining moment there with Black Panther that was put aside and the work was recognized for the achievement that it was... There are a lot of comic fans that didn’t know who Shang-Chi was. And yet the work that Destin did and Dave did and Sue did and Joel did, created something new that connected with audiences. We recognized it, the audience recognized it, and I sure would love the hard work of all of these people who are telling their story to get recognized.”

With or without any Oscars, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has served to make Simu Liu a breakout star in Hollywood. Along with Liu, the movie stars Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kinglsey, and Tony Leung. Destin Daniel Cretton directed and co-wrote the script with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham.

The movie does have a particularly high rating for a superhero movie on Rotten Tomatoes, sitting with a score of 91% fresh. Because Eternals would set the new record as the lowest-scored Marvel Studios movie soon after, the accomplishment seems that much better. Earlier this month, the movie was also a hit at the People's Choice Awards where it had five total nominations. Shang-Chi won for Action Movie of 2021 with an additional nomination for Movie of 2021. Simu Liu won the Action Movie Star award and was also up for Male Movie Star of 2021 with Awkwafina nominated for Female Movie Star of 2021.

Currently, Destin Daniel Cretton is still brainstorming ideas for the screenplay for Shang-Chi 2 and hasn't yet officially gotten started writing the screenplay. The sequel doesn't yet have a release date. For now, you can watch the original Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings streaming on Disney+. This news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.