Shang-Chi #5 pits the deadly hands of Kung-Fu against an army of vampires

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Marvel Comics has released the synopsis and cover for January 2021's Shang-Chi #5, the finale of the limited series by Gene Luen Yang, Dike Ruan, and Philip Tan, which focuses on Shang-Chi's extended family – all masters of specific deadly martial arts weapons.

The series focuses on the villainous Sister Hammer, one of Shang-Chi's siblings, who holds disastrous ambitions of conquest. And judging by the solicit text for Shang-Chi #5, she's got an army of undead at her side to undertake the mission.

"Sister Hammer launches her final attack on the Western world with her army of vampires! Will Shang-Chi and his family be able to stop her?" reads Marvel's official solicitation text for Shang-Chi #5. "And will Shang-Chi finally accept the destiny laid out by his father?"

In comic books, Shang-Chi's father is Zheng-Zu, an immortal Chinese sorcerer who also happens to be a supervillain. It's speculated that the upcoming Marvel Studios film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which will introduce Mandarin as its lead villain, could make Mandarin Shang-Chi's father in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"Our story is about [Shang-Chi] coming to terms with his family. He, and we, will meet new family members," Yang tells Newsarama of the limited series. "The main antagonist is a woman known as Sister Hammer, who is one of Shang-Chi's siblings. We'll also get to know his father's cult and see its influence, both past and present, on the Marvel Universe."

"Every human culture values family, but I think there is an added layer of emphasis in traditional Asian cultures," he states. "Shang-Chi comes from an especially complex and messy family. He tried to escape by coming to America, but can you really escape your family?"

Shang-Chi #5 is due out in January. Look out for Marvel's full January 2021 solicitations later this month on Newsarama.

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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)