5. Master of Kung Fu
What Is It? In the 1970s, Marvel had the rights to Sax Rohmers Fu Manchu, and so Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin introduced Shang-Chi, Fu Manchus son, who was raised in isolation to be a living weapon utilized by his father. Doug Moench (seriously, look this guy up, his 70s work at Marvel was incredible) and Paul Gulacy breathed new life into the Master of Kung Fu series, turning it into a huge success. After being sent on a mission to murder Dr. Petrie, the partner of Fu Manchus longtime nemesis Sir Denis Nayland Smith, he instead met Smith himself, who informed Shang-Chi of his fathers villainous nature. Rebelling against his father, Shang-Chi sided with British intelligence to battle his father and the Si-Fan assassins. Joining him were Black Jack Tarr, Clive Reston, and Leiko Wu.
How To Do It Right? For starters, although Marvel owns Shang-Chi, they lost the rights to Fu Manchu long ago, and any other appearances by Shang-Chi have simply referred to Fu Manchu as Shang-Chis father. In the Secret Avengers series, writer Ed Brubaker finally put an end to this by revealing that Shang-Chis father was an ancient Chinese sorcerer named Zheng Zu, who assumed a number of names over the years and changed the name of his organization to the Hai-Dai. This is the best route to take, because a Fu Manchu analog would not work in the modern day. But if theres one thing we could use for, it's minority representation in superheroes. A strong Asian protagonist would be a welcome change. And there are lots of interesting villains Shang-Chi has fought over the years who could easily be integrated into a television series, such as Zaran the Weapons Master, Midnight, and frequent enemy and ally, Shen Kuei.