The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) just made its return to the big screen with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow (which had an estimate opening weekend of $215 million at the global box office). Now, fans are eager to see Marvel’s next theatrical masterpiece and that happens to be Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The movie marks the first time that a Marvel movie will have an Asian superhero character in the lead. It will also be the first time that the Ten Rings would become a focus in the storyline since the terrorist organization kidnapped Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) in Iron Man.
How The MCU Has of Tackled The Ten Rings So Far?
For over a decade, the Ten Rings has been largely shrouded in mystery in the MCU. In the past, the biggest storyline surrounding this organization had been the kidnapping of Tony (his capture also led to the creation of the first Iron Man suit). Later on, it became clear that Tony’s own mentor, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), was the one who orchestrated Tony’s kidnapping. At the same time, it was discovered that Stane facilitated the sale of Stark weapons to Ten Rings.
Later on, in Iron Man 3, Tony encountered the Ten Rings again. And this time, it seemed he finally had the opportunity to come face to face with its leader, the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). To everyone’s surprise, however, the Mandarin turned out to be an impostor, a hired actor named Trevor Slattery. Since then, the MCU has never referenced the Mandarin again, although Ten Rings made a brief appearance in the 2015 film Ant-Man. In the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings though, the organization is at the forefront of the storyline. More importantly, its actual leader would finally be revealed. As Marvel boss Kevin Feige has told Rotten Tomatoes, “Just because that version wasn’t real didn’t mean there’s not a leader of the Ten Rings organization, and that is who we meet for the first time in Shang-Chi.”
How The Ten Rings Figure In The Shang-Chi Movie
In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, fans quickly learn of Shang-Chi’s (Simu Liu) deep connection with the Ten Rings directly since his father is the organization’s actual leader. As one would imagine, this makes his family situation complicated, even traumatic. “The core of Shang-Chi's arc in the comics is really a family drama,” producer Jonathan Schwartz explained during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
In the movie, he opted to leave his family behind and go to America after refusing to join the family business. “This is not a 'Luke, I am your father' twist,” Feige explained. “He knows who his father is, and he's decided to leave that world behind before he's pulled back into it.” And when this happens, the chaos erupts.
For starters, Shang-Chi can no longer pretend that he’s just a regular guy. “He also has a secret and a superpower that he doesn't quite understand and has not stepped into,” Liu explained while speaking with Entertainment Weekly in a separate interview. Despite everything, however, Shang-Chi remains defiant, determined to discover himself outside of his origins. “It's about Shang-Chi learning that even though there is a prescribed destiny that his dad has bestowed on him, he can also carve out his own path.”
Why Did It Take So Long To Bring Ten Rings?
Marvel may have been referring to the Ten Rings from the beginning but Feige himself knew that it was impossible to put a spotlight on this criminal organization in the Iron Man movies. Simply put, it wasn’t going to work. “And going back to Iron Man one: We’ve been talking about that when we do bring this character to the screen, [we] only wanted to do it when we felt we could do it supreme justice and really showcase the complexity of this character, which frankly we couldn’t do in an Iron Man movie because an Iron Man movie is about Iron Man,” Feige explained. “An Iron Man movie is about Tony Stark.”
This time around, Feige knew they could do things right. In fact, they even cast legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai to play the mysterious (actual) leader of Ten Rings. “Tony Leung playing Shang-Chi’s father and the leader of the Ten Rings is another pinch-yourself, dream-come-true moment because he’s one of the best actors of our time,” Feige remarked. “And we’re very excited to have him introduced to, I hope, a whole new fan base who might not be aware of his spectacular work that he’s done.”
At the same time, Marvel also hopes that fans would think that the real Mandarin is worth the wait. “I think people hear 'the Mandarin' and expect a very specific kind of thing, and that may not be the thing they're getting, Schwartz remarked. “They're hopefully getting a more complex and layered take on the character than that name would lead you to.”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is slated for release on September 3, 2021. At the moment, it is unclear if Disney plans to make the film simultaneously available on Disney+ on its premiere date.