If you’re a Marvel superfan, you may want to know how to watch Shang-Chi online for free to see Marvel’s first movie with an Asian lead in action.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the second movie in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most of which follow the events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. The first movie in Phase Four was Black Widow, which premiered in July 2021. Shang-Chi will be followed by at least nine Marvel Phase Four films that will premiere between 2021 and 2023: Eternals; Spider-Man: No Way Home; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; Thor: Love and Thunder;Black Panther: Wakanda Forever;The Marvels;Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; and Fantastic Four. 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is based on the Marvel Comics character, Shang-Chi, who made his debut in the comics in 1973. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is also the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature an Asian lead and a majority Asian cast. “The turning point was really Shang-Chi and getting asked for the first time: ‘What do you want to see out there?’” Simu Liu, who plays Shang-Chi, told Postmedia in August 2021. “I’m very aware it’s a privilege where very, very few actors get to. For most actors, especially Canadian actors, it’s more about, ‘What will you hire me on?’ For many years of my acting career, that was first and foremost. The answer, inevitably, was Hong Kong Desk Cop No. 1 and Paramedic No. 3. Now we’re being asked questions like, ‘What are the three stories out there right now that you wish you could tell?’ There’s tremendous power and responsibility in that.”

In an interview with Time in January 2021, Liu opened up about what a hero like Shang-Chi would mean to him as a kid. “I loved comics as a kid, I loved superheroes, but I really didn’t see myself represented in that space,” he says. “I really hope with this movie, kids who are like me, who grew up similarly, can have that,” he said. “That’s really the power of representation: seeing yourself on screen and feeling like you’re a part of this world, which for Asian children who have grown up in the West hasn’t always been the case.”

He continued, “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that good things come to those who do. I’ve always, from day one, wondered if there was any more that I could do. If a door wasn’t open for me, I was going to build a door, or build a battering ram to barge my way in.”

So how can one watch Shang-Chi online for free? Read on ahead for when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be available to stream for free on Disney Plus and how to get a subscription at no cost if you don’t have one.

When does Shang-Chi come out?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings comes out in theaters on September 3, 2021. Buy tickets for your local movie theater here.

What is Shang-Chi about?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is based on the Marvel Comics character, Shang-Chi (also known as Master of Kung Fu or Brother Hand), who made his debut in the comics’ “Special Marvel Edition #15” in December 1973. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Shang-Chi is a skilled martial artist who was trained at a young age by the Ten Rings organization to be an assassin by his father, Wenwu. When he becomes older, Shang-Chi leaves the Ten Rings organization to live a normal life in San Francisco under the name “Shaun.” The movie follows Shang-Chi as he confronts his past and is drawn back into his father’s Ten Rings organization.

“This movie is the first time that I think Marvel has put a lot of their emphasis in the action design and, specifically, the choreography,” director Destin Daniel Cretton told Fandango in August 2021. “And it’s their first time really tackling a more purely martial arts movie, which is super exciting to be a part of. They obviously didn’t hire me because I’m amazing at martial arts movies, so there’s also a very strong emotional, dramatic and comedic element to these characters.”

Who is in the Shang-Chi cast?

Simu Liu, who is also known his work in Netflix’s Kim’s Convenience, plays the lead role of Shang-Chi. Awkwafina, who has starred in movies like Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians, plays Shang-Chi’s best friend, Katy. Tony Leung, who has acted in films like Chungking Express and Happy Together, plays Shang-Chi’s dad, Wenwu a.k.a. The Mandarin. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (who also directed movies like Short Term 12 and Just Mercy.) The movie is written by Cretton, Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham, and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz.

See the full cast of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings below.

• Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
  
• Awkwafina as Katy:
• Meng’er Zhang as Xialing
• Fala Chen as Jiang Li
• Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist
• Benedict Wong as Wong
• Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan:
  
• Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery
• Tony Leung as Wenwu / The Mandarin

When is Shang-Chi free on Disney Plus?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be available to stream on Disney Plus on October 18, 2021, which is 45 days after it premiered in theaters on September 3, 2021. The delayed is different from the release of Disney and Marvel movies like Black Widow, Raya and the Last Dragon and Cruella, which premiered in theaters and on Disney Plus With Premiere Access, which costs $30 in addition to Disney Plus’ monthly $7.99 price. The movies weren’t available to stream for free on Disney Plus until at least 90 days after their release.

How to watch Shang-Chi online for free

So how can one watch Shang-Chi online for free? Well, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings won’t be available to stream on Disney Plus until October 18, 2021. The service costs $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year (which saves subscribers $15.98 from the monthly price.) Still, there are ways to subscribe to Disney+ at no cost and watch Shang-Chi online for free when it’s available to stream. Read on for how to do that.

Verizon Unlimited Free Subscription

If you’re a Verizon customer (or know someone who is), Verizon offers free Disney Plus subscription with its Unlimited plans (a.k.a. Get More Unlimited, Play More Unlimited, Verizon Plan Unlimited, Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited.) If you have one of these plans, you can sign-up for a free six-month Disney+ subscription (which saves you about $42.) Click here for Verizon’s FAQ on how to sign up for its free Disney+ subscription.

Verizon customers with Get More Unlimited and Play More Unlimited plans are also eligible for their Disney Bundle, which offers not only a free Disney Plus subscription for as long as you have your Verizon plan, but also free Hulu and ESPN+ subscriptions too, which saves viewers about $12.99 per month. Click here for Verizon’s FAQ on how to sign up for its Disney Bundle. So there you have it—a way to watch Disney Plus for free.

Amazon Music Unlimited Free Subscription

New Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can receive a free six-month subscription to Disney Plus. Current Amazon Music Unlimited Subscribers are also eligible for a free three-month subscription to Disney Plus. Amazon Music Unlimited offers a 30-day free trial and costs $7.99 per month for Amazon Prime Members—which is the same monthly rate as Disney Plus. This means that customers can receive both an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription and a Disney Plus subscription for less than $4 each.

Not an Amazon Prime Member? Amazon Prime also offers a 30-day free trial, so customers can sign up for the free trial and subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for the cheaper price. If you’re a student, you can also receive a free six-month trial of Amazon Prime, as well as an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription for just 99 cents per month. Click here for more on how to sign up for Amazon Music’s Disney Plus deal.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Free Trial

Xbox Game Pass users with new or existing “Ultimate” tier subscriptions are eligible to claim a 30-day free trial offer with Disney Plus as of June 2021. Microsoft announced the perk to coincide with the premiere of Loki on Disney Plus following an earlier offer in November 2020 in honor of the second season of The Mandalorian.

Though the previous offer expired in January 2021, Microsoft decided to partner with Disney Plus again—and the good news is that this perk is available for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members whether or not they claimed the previous Disney+ Perk. To claim it, all you need is an “Ultimate” tier Xbox Game Pass subscription (priced at $14.99 per month), which gives you access to the perks gallery on an Xbox console, the Xbox app on a Windows PC, or the Xbox Game Pass mobile app on iOS and Android.

After claiming the perk, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users will be directed to Disney Plus to activate their 30-day free trial. The catch? Members can only claim and activate the trial from June 8, 2021, until September 30, 2021. It’s also worth keeping in mind that the 30-day free trial will be set to auto-renew your subscription, so remember to cancel your Disney Plus membership before your free trial period is over if you don’t want to pay $7.99 a month.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

from StyleCaster