“Destin Daniel Cretton was born in Hawaii and is of Asian descent. And as he told The Hollywood Reporter, he didn’t have a superhero to look up to when he was growing up, or at least not one that looked like him. Shang-Chi actually debuted in Marvel Comics in 1971, prior to Destin Daniel Cretton’s birth, but the character obviously didn’t and still doesn’t have the prominence of many other non-Asian characters in the Marvel canon.

So without a superhero to identify with and see himself in, Destin Daniel Cretton was attracted to Spider-Man. The thing about Spider-Man is that he wore a mask and could theoretically look like anyone underneath, even if Destin Cretton knew that it was Peter Parker. Interestingly, the idea that anyone can wear the mask is the thematic through-line in the recent animated masterpiece Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

But Destin Daniel Cretton doesn’t want that for his son. He doesn’t want his son to have to imagine himself behind the mask, he wants him to see a superhero onscreen that looks like him; a superhero who he can look up to, doing all kinds of amazing things that he can imagine himself doing.

Creating that for his son and so many other Asian kids is why Destin Daniel Cretton wanted to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe to direct Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and why he feels privileged to be doing so…”

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2487892/shang-chi-director-explains-why-he-joined-the-mcu