New artwork was released forShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsfor both Shang-Chi and the Abomination. As fans may know, Abomination was brought back and given a more comic book-accurate look/redesign for his short cameo in the martial arts superhero film.
Abomination is typically a villain to Bruce Banner’s Hulk and made his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut inMarvel Studios' 2008Incredible Hulkfilm. Abomination, or Emil Blonsky, was a soldier tasked to take down the Hulk and after suffering major injuries during his battle, he resorted to the worst means possible to achieve a similar amount of power. After experimenting, he turned into a monster who was bigger, stronger, andfaster than the Hulkwith the ability to communicate/use his conscious mind.
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Abomination was determined to cause a great deal of havoc in his battle with Bruce Banner during the climactic scene ofThe Incredible Hulk,only to end up losing by a slim margin in his battle. His appearance was used to promote fear in the viewer, as he was an unstoppable monster who took way too long to bring down. In contrast, his appearance inShang-Chiwas very short and used in a much lighter tone during his cameo withDr. Strange’sWong.
As the artwork by Marvel Studios' Senior Visual Development Artist Anthony Francisco shows, Abomination’s appearance in theShang-Chifilm looked a lot more like his comic book look counterpart in comparison to the unique approach seen inThe Incredible Hulkfilm. The comic book version of the character has a green tint to his skin and amphibian “web” like features around his ears and fingers.His debut inThe Incredible Hulkdidn’t have the green hue and had a more humanoid skeletal appearance, which looked really cool for the film because it helped make the character scarier.
If the creators wanted to explain this change, they can easily revert to the logic of saying he “evolves” over time and becomes more monstrous/less human. Regardless, Abomination’s different look betweenHulkandShang-Chiisn’t too big of a deal because a lot of fans will forgive it due to his debut being over a decade ago. Hopefully, fans get to learn more about what Blonsky has been up to since he was defeated inThe Incredible Hulkwhen he makes his appearance in the upcomingShe-HulkDisney plus project.
There are also die-hard fans who don’t like things being altered without good reasoning, which is understandable. If fans start allowing things to be changed or scrapped, then it becomes a conversation of no stakes where the creators can write anything without considering the repercussions or consequences of those choices. Hopefully, both fans and creators get what they’re both looking for.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsis in theaters now.
