When it comes to martial arts and action sequences in movies, Jackie Chan is without a doubt the King. Being a martial arts hero, the 69-year-old actor performs nearly all of the combat scenes and risky stunts in his films. The late Kung Fu icon Bruce Lee created a totally different age from the one he portrayed when he went against the grain and made hilariously comic martial arts movies.

Jackie Chan is regarded as a martial arts icon

However, this going against the norm almost destroyed the martial arts icon’s career as the late Bruce Lee’s serious and aggressive movies were the talk of the town in his era.

It wasn’t always like this, despite the fact that Jackie Chan is now regarded as the industry’s greatest martial artist. The era of the late Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee, which included more somber and violent films that were the talk of the town at the time, preceded Jackie Chan’s ascendancy.

Bruce Lee capitalized on the rise in popularity of martial arts films in the 1970s by releasing films such as Enter the Dragon. However, Chan intended a more comic tone for the films when he first entered the business.

Jackie Chan, understandably, anticipated that, since the beginning of his career, audiences would become accustomed to martial arts films incorporating humor in addition to Lee’s stern protagonist style. But the 69-year-old actor’s fantasy didn’t last long to come crashing down, as evidenced by the spectacular failure that marked the start of his career and how it defied expectations.

Though the Supercop actor’s career started out unsuccessful, he didn’t give up and instead decided to rebel until the age he had in mind took shape.

Jackie Chan in a still from his iconic action comedy movie series Rush Hour

Being a rebellious kid since the beginning, Jackie Chan didn’t take failure as a ‘no’. Instead, he took it as an encouragement to do better and make a change. Collaborating with his martial arts choreographer, Woo-Ping-Yuan, Chan decided he wanted to do everything opposite to what the late Bruce Lee did. Recalling that time, the Honorary Oscar winner said,

“Everything at that time was Bruce Lee. So we decide, we’ll do the opposite. We be more fancy, more pretty, more comedy.”

Consequently, come films like Rush Hour, which presented the protagonist as a ridiculous and funny figure with just the right amount of action and combat, making for the pinnacle in entertainment value. In an attempt to defy expectations, Jackie Chan ended up establishing a brand-new subgenre.