As an avid fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), there is nothing more electrifying than a new MCU film coming out. As such, it was extremely exciting when “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was released on Sept. 3, 2021. I saw “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in theaters opening weekend and was very impressed by the quality of the film, from its stunning fight choreography to the depth and richness of the characters. However, I left with a burning question in my head: where was the buzz around this film? I realized that Marvel had failed “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” with a minimal marketing campaign which failed to get the word out about the film.

Usually, right after an MCU film comes out, everyone is talking about it and there are many discussions on the internet. While there was some discourse about “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” I could not help but notice that there seemed to be less than the typical MCU film — even after “Black Widow,” which was released both on Disney+ and in theaters at the same time in July. Even though “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was doing well at the box office, having made more than $94 million during its opening on Labor Day weekend, there did not seem to be as much hype around the film as there was for previous Marvel films. Now, over a month after “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was released, there is hardly any talk about the film, whereas previous MCU films, such as “Avengers: Endgame,” were talked about and rewatched for months after their release.

My first thought was that perhaps “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was not well-received by critics and audiences, and that was why there was little buzz surrounding the film. However, this was not the case, as “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has a 92 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning 92 percent of critics gave the film a positive review. Additionally, 98 percent of audience reviews were also positive. How was it that “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was acclaimed by critics and fans alike, yet failed to sink into mainstream culture?

This led me to look into the marketing budgets of MCU films to see if it provided any clues. While the marketing budgets for MCU films are not explicitly released and remain a mystery, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” allegedly has the lowest marketing budget of any MCU film to date. This is not surprising, given that many fans called out Marvel on TikTok for not promoting “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” enough in mid-August.

One potential reason that Marvel may have hedged their bets on the marketing for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is the COVID-19 pandemic. It is likely that Marvel thought “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” would make less money at the box office because of the pandemic, and decided to market the film less to avoid spending as much money. However, I would argue that Marvel actually should have marketed the film more because of the pandemic, as “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” could have been the film that fully brought back audiences to theaters. That title seems now to belong to the new “James Bond” film, “No Time To Die,” which has already outgrossed “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” at the global box office.

Another potential reason for Marvel’s lack of a strong marketing campaign is racism, as “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is the first MCU film to have an Asian protagonist. There was a lot of discussion among Marvel fans, particularly on TikTok, about how Marvel’s neglect of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was racially motivated. However, others disagreed with this point and argued that Marvel was putting more effort into its Disney+ programming instead of their film productions. I think it is likely a combination of both factors, as the MCU has had a representation problem in the past, and Marvel has produced more Disney+ shows than films in the last year.

Overall, Marvel did a great disservice to “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” by deciding to insufficiently market the film. Marvel should have marketed the film more for several reasons: the COVID-19 pandemic, new representation of the Asian community as well as the fact that the character of Shang-Chi is relatively unknown compared to more famous superheroes, such as Spider-Man or Captain America. Furthermore, it is a shame that “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” was neglected by Marvel, because the film manages to tell an original and fun story that is not beholden to the typical Marvel film formula.

Going forward, Marvel has a chance to repeat or fix these mistakes with their next film, “Eternals,” which releases Nov. 5, 2021. Like “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the saga of the Eternals is a relatively unknown property, so it will be interesting to see how Marvel markets “Eternals” as compared to “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Only time will tell if they will repeat their same mistake again.

Elijah Engler is a freshman majoring in chemistry.