GRANDMASTER WONG

Real Name: Wong Sek-cheung (legally changed to Wong Fei-hung)

Identity/Class: Human (18th century to World War I era) (Chinese)

Occupation: Martial arts master, physician;
    formerly freelance guard

Group Membership: Formerly the Black Flag Army (Cmdr. Liu Yongfu, many others) (presumably - see comments)

Affiliations: The Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, Echo/Maya Lopez, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Namor the Sub-Mariner/Namor McKenzie, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond simulacrum, Starbrand/Brandy Selby, Thor/Thor Odinson, Valkyrie/Jane Foster), Sam Fai-tong, Dang Fong, Leung Foon, Lam Fuk-sing, Wong Hon-hei, Wong Hon-lam, Wong Hon-sam, Wong Hon-syu, Wong Kei-yung, Mok Kwan-lan, Lo, Ma, Knuckles O'Shaughnessy, Dang Sai-king, Sam, Lam Sai-wing, Lin Wan-kai; possibly So Chan and various other time and reality-displaced Avengers (see comments)

Enemies: Mephisto

Known Relatives: Wong Kei-ying (father, deceased), Mok Kwan-lan (fourth wife, deceased), Wong Hon-hei (son, deceased), Wong Hon-lam (son, deceased), Wong Hon-sam (son, deceased), Wong Hon-syu (son), two unidentified daughters, Lo (first wife, deceased), Ma (second wife, deceased), Sam (third wife, deceased), three unidentified grandsons, six unidentified granddaughters, many descendants

Aliases: "Big Iron," "Legendary Master of the Drunken Dragon Fist"

Base of Operations: Unrevealed

First Appearance: Avengers VII#50 (February, 2022)

Powers/Abilities: Grandmaster Wong had the powers of the Iron Fist (or Drunken Dragon Fist, as it was called in his era), allowing him to channel chi energy into his fist to make it superhumanly strong and pain resistant.

    He was a master of the Shaolin Hung Ga martial art.

    Wong was highly skilled in the use of a staff and southern tiger fork weapons.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 120 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Gray (originally black)

History:
(real life) - Wong Sek-cheung was born on August 19, 1847 in Luzlou Hamlet, Lingxi Village, Xiqiao Country, Foshan, Nanhai County. He began studying the Shaolin Hung Ga martial art at age five under the tutelage of his father, Wong Kei-ying, a martial arts performer and medicinal peddler. At age thirteen, Sek-cheung encountered Lam Fuk-sing, apprentice of "Iron Bridge Three" Leung Kwan and Lam taught Wong how to use the sling and the Iron Wire Fist martial art. He later learned the art of the Shadowless Kick from Sam Fai-tong. At some point, he had his name changed from Wong Sek-cheung to Wong Fei-hung and he studied medicine, making friends in the medical field but also in martial arts circles and eventually improving on his father's martial arts.

(real life/Avengers VII#61 (fb) - BTS) - Wong Fei-hung eventually mastered Shaolin Hung Ga martial arts.

(real life) - Wong founded a martial arts school in 1863, serving mostly laborers and vendors, and in 1886, Wong opened his family's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam.

(Avengers VII#50 - BTS) - Wong Fei-hung became master of the Drunken Dragon Fist style of martial arts and his skills became legendary during his time.

(real life (apparently)) - The legends of Wong Fei-hung stated that Wong was taught drunken boxing by So Chan and they also stated that around the 1860s-1870s, Wong was recruited into the Black Flag Army as a medical officer and martial arts instructor by Cmdr. Liu Yongfu.

(real life) - Wong Fei-hung married Lo (or "Law") in 1871 but Lo died of illness three months into their marriage.

(real life (apparently)) - Legends also stated that, as part of the Black Flag Army, Wong Fei-hung apparently battled the Imperial Japanese Army during their invasion of Taiwan in 1895.

(real life) - After remaining widowed for 25 years, Wong married his second wife, Ma, in 1896 and he fathered two sons, Wong Hon-lam and Wong Hon-sam, and two daughters with her. After Ma also died of illness, Wong Fei-hung married his third wife, Sam (or "Sum"), in 1902 and fathered two sons, Wong Hon-syu and Wong Hon-hei.

(Avengers VIII#50) - As he passed through time towards his own present day, the time-traveling Ka-Zar briefly saw Wong Fei-Hung, legendary master of the drunken dragon fist technique.

(real life) - Following the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, Wong was hired as a guard by various entertainment venues due to his martial arts training and in 1915, Wong informally married his fourth wife, Mok Kwan-lan, refusing to formally marry her due to a feeling that his previous wives had died due to a curse laid upon him. In 1919, he was invited to perform a martial arts demonstration at the opening of the Chin Woo Athletic Association and later that same year, Wong Fei-hung's son Wong Hon-sam was murdered by his rival "Devil Eye" Leung and Fei-hung was so affected by the loss that he stopped teaching martial arts to his other sons.

(Avengers VII#61) - By 1924 A.D., the aged Fei-Hung had become China's mightiest hero and had taken the title of Grandmaster Wong. When Mephisto-possessed civilians attacked Hong Kong, Grandmaster Wong teamed with the kid Spirit of Vengeance, Knuckles O'Shaughnessy, to fight off the demon-possessed people. The bystanders were soon scattered by the arrival of the time-traveling Starbrand (Brandy Selby) and her team of heroic Avengers from the modern era, who admitted their honor at meeting the Grandmaster. Noticing the hot-headed Starbrand off by herself, Grandmaster Wong informed Iron Man that Starbrand had blood as hot as the sun but courage as strong as iron. The Avengers then departed into another time period in their pursuit of Mephisto, leaving Grandmaster Wong and Knuckles O'Shaughnessy behind.

(real life) - Sometime between August and October 1924, Wong's medical clinic was destroyed during the government's suppression of the Guangzhou Merchant Volunteers Corps uprising and Wong fell into deep depression. Soon becoming ill, Wong Fei-hung died on April 17, 1925. Following Wong's death, his fourth wife Mok Kwai-lan, his sons and two of his students moved to Hong Kong and opened martial arts schools there.

(Avengers III#50) - Over succeeding generations, Wong Fei-Hung's legend became lost to time and his name became long forgotten.

(real life) - Wong Fei-hung's grave was lost over the generations and it was thought to have been expunged during later generational developments.

Comments: Created by Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz, Ed McGuinness and Javier Garron.

    Wong Fei-Hung must have been the Iron Fist that succeeded Orson Randall, who was Iron Fist in 1919 A.D., just a few years before we know Wong was active (1924 A.D.).

    Wong Fei-Hung appears on the cover of Avengers VII#61 alongside numerous other multiversal heroes though he is only seen interacting with the time-traveling modern day Avengers in the actual issue. His appearance on the cover suggests that he was recruited into the Avengers' multiversal army against Mephistobut since we do not actually see him among the Avengers' multiversal army in succeeding issues (that I could find anyway), I have not included the multiversal army in his Group Affiliations. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a cover did not reflect exactly what was in the issue...

    Thanks to Loki for pointing the older Wong in Avengers VII#61! I had originally wrote that appearance off as being another character with a similar name but given the timeframe between Orson Randall in 1919 and Wong in 1924 and the fact that #61 mentions him being a master of the Drunken Dragon Fist, it stands to reason that characters in #50 & #61 are indeed intended to be the same character, perhaps just older in #61. Then again, one might argue that the younger character seen in #50 is a later generation, possibly even the successor to the Grandmaster Wong character in #61 but until we are shown otherwise, I am choosing to go with they are one and the same at different points in time.

    Also big thanks to Loki for pointing out that Grandmaster Wong was a real person! As of 4/12/2024, I've added it bit of the real Wong's life into this profile.

    Wong's appearances do differ quite a bit. In Avengers VII#50 & the cover of #61, he appears much younger in an Iron Fist-like outfit but when we see him in the story of #61, he appears much older and in a typical martial arts outfit of the time without any Iron Fist-like designs (as you can see from the images above).

    Some stories of Wong Fei-hung's life were the stuff of legend and folklore so where the stories lean more into the folklore than facts, I've noted them in the History section as "apparently."

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Wong Fei-Hung should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Avengers VII#61, p7, pan1 (Grandmaster Wong, main image)
Avengers VII#61, p7, pan2 (Grandmaster Wong, headshot)
Avengers VII#50, p22-23, splash page (younger Wong Fei-Hung in Iron Fist-like garb)
Avengers VII#61, front cover (younger Wong Fei-Hung running)

Appearances:
Avengers VII#50 (February, 2022) - "An Earth Unlike Any Other (Just Like All the Rest)" story - Jason Aaron (writer), Aaron Kuder, Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz, Ed McGuinness, Javier Garron (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#61 (December, 2022) - Jason Aaron (writer), Ivan Fiorelli (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First posted: 09/15/2023
Last updated: 04/15/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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