The long awaited trailer for Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings was released today in honor of its lead actor, Simu Liu’s birthday. (Happy Birthday Young King!) Having been rumored to be an over-achieving production, we can finally see why Marvel Studios was confident enough to make plans for this film to be their Summer blockbuster (It was formerly scheduled to be released on July 9, 2021). Due to pandemic caused rescheduling, this exciting new entry is now slated to debut in theaters on September 3, 2021.
We see an intriguing new spin on Shang-Chi’s comic book origin. Wenwu, played by Tony Leung, is Shang-Chi’s father here. In addition, he is an ancient being that has gone by many names in history. The legendary title of The Mandarin is his. In the comics, paternity of our new hero went to a man by the name of Fu-Manchu, but due to controversial impressions from the culturally insensitive depictions of this character, Marvel has wisely changed some details. They apparently haven’t stopped there.
As the title states, The Ten Rings are of legend. They come from a race of shape shifting, reptilian humanoids that landed on Earth in order to conquer the planet. Referred to as “Space Dragons” due to their appearance, these explorers originated from the planet, Kakaranthara (aka Maklu-IV). By the looks of the mythical beasts in the trailer we will get to see the origin of the rings on Earth. The rings were originally pieces to their ship and were used as finger rings that gave the person wearing them powers. In this trailer, the rings are worn as forearm bracelets; 5 on each arm. This new idea is stunning and works well with the way they are used showing the rings’ energy from far off distances.
If Fu-Manchu & Wenwu are combined to present an all new iteration of The Mandarin, his direct lineage from Genghis Khan is hopefully used. This would automatically connect Randall Park’s character, James Woo (Ant-Man 2/WandaVision), as he is a direct descendant of the emperor as well. The Fu-Manchu history is rich with Chinese folklore in the realm of sorcery; same as The Mandarin’s. It is clear that we will be following Wenwu through different eras in ancient times, as he appears be shown in conflict with what looks like The Mongol Empire in one scene, and warriors from The Valley of The Sleeping Dragon in another. They could be one in the same but from different time periods. Iron Man’s greatest foe mixed with Shang-Chi’s paternal arch nemesis promises for an amazing story where characters like Fin Fang Foom (The Sleeping Dragon) could show up.
There are amazing implications from the little we’ve now seen. Shang-Chi is a humble man with amazing abilities. To be honest, the trailer seems to be shared from Wenwu’s point of view more than the title character’s; and that actually gives me hope that the details from this film are so expansive that The Legend Of The Ten Rings will set up a new station in The MCU in the same fashion that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther has.
Based on the trailer, Wenwu raised Shang-Chi to be a living weapon. It looks like a character from Shang-Chi’s rouge’s gallery (Death Dealer) is being used as his teacher as well as his father’s General. Trained by Death Dealer under Mandarin’s watch, Shang-Chi left his father’s side after witnessing him create his modern empire. His refusal to follow in his father footsteps is integral to his story. Another familiar character named Razor-Fist is being played by Florian Munteanu. He appears to be an adversary that may become a bigger character for Marvel down the line.
All the other characters I see seem to be completely new even though they may be versions of known characters from Shang-Chi’s background. Awkwafina is shown to be in the main supporting role as Katy. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso & Charles Newirth serving as executive producers, this movie is in masterful hands. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film. The film also stars Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang and Ronny Chieng.
I will share more as I learn about this cool new world being introduced. Enjoy the trailer and comment here or on Twitter. Subscribe here so you won’t miss anything. Be well, be whole, be blessed, Beloved. Manchild out.
Everyone Loves A Good Story 