‘Shang-Chi’s’ Meng’er Zhang Reacts to Fan Demands for a ‘Ten Rings’ Series: “I’m Down”

It takes a lot to be the scene-stealer in a Marvel movie. For example, look at Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings—a movie with living legends like Michelle Yeoh and Ben Kingsley, a massive dragon and a bunch of Cthulu-esque nightmare monsters, Awkwafina’s one-liners, Simu Liu’s abs, and one little headless bird/pig named Morris. There’s a lot going on in Shang-Chi—but Meng’er Zhang’s Xu Xialing is the scene stealer of all scene stealers.

Xialing is cool, badass, determined, independent—she’s a woman of few words but lots of intention and she’s as good a fighter as Shang-Chi (if not better). And since Shang-Chi has a hero’s journey because he’s the movie’s lead superhero, Xialing gets to be the complicated sibling, the one whose journey is definitely not on the straight and narrow. This is a demanding role to play emotionally, let alone physically—and Meng’er Zhang became an instant fave the instant she appeared onscreen as Xialing.

With Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings now available to stream on Disney+ and the home release coming up on November 30, Decider got the chance to speak with Meng’er Zhang about the Shang-Chi group text, finding her husband on set, and what she would get Xialing for Christmas (hint: it only comes in a set of ten).

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Decider: Do you have a favorite a Xialing action figure or piece of merchandise?

Meng’er Zhang: Yeah, I have all those Funko Pops and I also have action figures. And to be honest, the very first time, when I saw my face, I saw my own action figures, it was kind of weird. When I took it out, I was so careful because I don’t want to break her, you know? But it was so fun to play with.

What’s been the biggest change since the movie came out in theaters?

I think the biggest change for me is my Instagram followers. The number is getting crazy, especially every time when Simu [Liu] tags me. I just all of a sudden had a lot of new followers. I think that’s the biggest change.

What is your relationship like with Simu Liu now? I watched the Assembled episode for Shang-Chi and y’all talked about how you had kind of a brother/sister relationship. Do you still have that all these months later?

Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure! I watched that too. I watched that, and I remember I said, “He annoys me a lot.” But actually when I watched that, I realized that oh, actually I’m the one who annoys him a lot. And yes, we are very close and we have that group chat with everyone. We chat all the time, all those silly topics and all those deep topics. It goes on all the time.

The karaoke scenes are such a memorable part of Shang-Chi. Did you ever get to go with Simu and Awkwafina?

Yes, we did actually! The first time was when we were shooting the film. And then the last time was Awkwafina threw a really big karaoke party for me and my husband to celebrate our marriage and everyone sang. I mean, that was so good. Guess who has the best voice?

Michelle Yeoh?

No, she wasn’t there that time.

Tony Leung?

Wong!

Benedict Wong?!

Yes! Wow, he really can sing. He has a really amazing voice!

You mentioned your wedding—you married Shang-Chi action designer Yung Lee. What was it like falling in love on set when you’re also playing a character that is kind of a cold badass?

I always tell people that the action in our film so good, I even married one of the action designers myself. It was very natural. When we shot the film, we always planned to hang out on the weekend, with Simu and with Chris Cowan, the other action designer. And sometimes it just ended up, like, just only me and Yung, my husband. And it started there. So, thank you Simu for not showing up, I guess!

Have you been able to keep up with your martial arts training since filming wrapped? Like, are you still getting out the rope dart or anything?

Yes. My husband Yung, he’s still training me. Boxing, yeah—he drills me hard so that when Xialing returns, she will return strong.

Now we actually talk about it: what was your reaction when you found out what the post-credit scene was gonna be? That’s a huge game changer for Xialing.

I know! I was so excited. I was too excited. I was so excited that I, the first time I watched it, I missed the sign at the very end that [read] “The Ten Rings Will Return.” I missed that. I was just like talking, “Did you see that? That was so cool! Do you know what that means?” And I missed that sign. But I watched it so many times and, wow—!

I also read a lot of comments and posts that people are asking for a Disney+ show for Xialing and, I mean, I don’t know anything yet and I can’t speak for Marvel, but you know, I’m down. I think that’s really a good idea. I want one too! Because I just feel like Xialing is a complex character that she has so much for us to explore.

You also have Ronny Chieng by your side, who is hilarious. I love him on The Daily Show and to see him in this role was so great. What is it like working with him?

Oh, he’s really nice. And working with him, it’s so hard to keep a straight face because sometimes he will just say something and—he says those funny things really seriously and that makes those things even funnier. And also he is really into protecting the environment and he affects all of us. And we take recycling and all those things so seriously.

With the holidays approaching, if you had to get Xialing a present, what do you think she needs? What would you want to get her for the holidays?

Oh, I mean—what about the Ten Rings? Right? Because she is now the new leader of the Ten Rings organization, but what kind of a Ten Rings organization [is it] without the actual Ten Rings? So, Shang-Chi, are you listening? Just throwing some ideas here!

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is now available on all major digital platforms and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on November 30.

Stream Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Disney+