Simu Liu uses his past as a stock image model to respond to Shang Chi's critics

Marvel's newest superhero has sure come a long way.

Simu Liu, star of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, called back to his past career stint as a stock image model in celebrating his new film's success at the box office.

Sharing an image of himself posing with two other models around a computer, the actor tweeted, "Me laughing at the people who thought we'd flop."

People have long noticed that, yes, it was Liu's face popping up in various stock images of office workers.

"I did ONE stock photo shoot for 100 bucks cash in 2014… and I have ended up on HUNDREDS of ads and storefronts and pamphlets and textbook covers," the star of Kim's Convenience once wrote on an Instagram Story, as cited by BuzzFeed. "Moral of the story; Think twice before doing a stock photo shoot because they own the photos FOREVER."

The shoot has apparently haunted him for years.

Now, however, Liu's Shang-Chi set a new record at the box office for films released in theaters over the Labor Day weekend. The movie grossed $71.4 million with a four-day estimate of $83.5 million since debuting in the U.S. on Sep. 3.

Liu also responded to critics of the film in an update to his Instagram Story. On top of screenshots from various YouTube videos predicting a big fat failure at the box office for Shang-Chi, Liu wrote the letters, "LOL."

Liu had been vocal on social media after comments from Disney CEO Bob Chapek made the rounds in which he referred to Shang-Chi's release plan as "an interesting experiment for us." Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige later clarified to The Hollywood Reporter that "it was not the intention. The proof is in the movie and we swing for the fences as we always do. With the amount of creative energy we put in and the budget, there's no expense spared to bring this origin story to the screen."

"We are not an experiment," Liu wrote on Twitter after hearing of Chapek's remarks. "We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I'm fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US."

It seems, we all collectively did just that.

This article was updated with Simu Liu's response on Instagram Stories.

Related content:

• How the Shang-Chi end-credits scenes set up the Marvel Cinematic Universe's next steps
• Marvel's Shang Chi star Simu Liu successfully campaigned for the role on Twitter
• The Shang-Chi cast on karaoke, accidental punches, and geeking out over Tony Leung