Author: Joseph Aberl

It’s been a long wait but the premiere for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has finally arrived. While we still have to wait a few more weeks, it’s a sign that we don’t have to fear the film facing some kind of delay. Venom: Let There Be Carnage left its late September release and it did add some uncertainty but everyone took to the red carpet to enjoy the event. It seems that the event had some curious surprises, as actor Ben Kingsley was sighted during the event. Luckily, Comic Book’s Brandon Davis was attending the event, where Marvel Studios confirmed he is part of the film’s cast to all those that are attending

The actor hasn’t appeared since his initial appearance in Iron Man 3 as a fake version of the Mandarin. It turned out he was an actor known as Trevor Slattery that ended up in prison before he met with a follower of the Ten Rings in the All Hail The King one-shot. Of course, his appearance would hint at them continuing the storyline in some way. It’s uncertain if he’ll have a bigger role in the story, or it might turn out to be a simple cameo.

Still, it’s incredible how Marvel Studios still pulls upon storylines left open. The Marvel Cinematic Universe first introduced the organization in 2008. There have been some hints of their continued reign throughout the series even after Iron Man 3. It’ll be interesting to see how Kingsley‘s character will play into this story and what it might mean for his future with the franchise.

Source: Twitter (Ben Kingsley) Twitter

There’s a lot of controversies surrounding Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in China. Local audiences aren’t comfortable with the introduction of the titular character’s father. We know it’ll be an original character known as Wenwu, who is portrayed by famous Chinese actor Tony Leung, but there are still some heavy ties to the racist caricature of Fu Manchu. In an interview, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige discussed their approach to this character and also confirmed that Marvel does not own the rights to the racist caricature.

That is one of the truths about the early comic books that Fu Man Chu was a part of that story in the early comics. Fu Manchu is not a Marvel character. Fu Manchu is not a character we own or ever want to own. And that changed in the comics many years ago. We never had any intention of doing that in this movie. Fu Manchu is not in this movie in any shape or form.

Kevin Feige

He also goes on to highlight that it is an offensive figure. He makes a point of highlighting their strategy is to welcome people into this universe, especially with their approach to defining their heroes. They also took a very specific approach with their villain, as Kevin Feige highlights that Wenwu isn’t the kind of villain you think the leader of the Ten Rings might be.

This is a very unique character that you can almost not even call a villain. This is a story about the love between a father and son, but misunderstanding and conflict and that’s what we’re anxious for people to see in this movie between these two amazing actors.

Kevin Feige

The interviewer goes on to point out Shang-Chi’s dark decision on taking his father’s life. While not giving away any details, Feige does point out that they’ve changed many elements in their adaptation. He does go on to tease the change of perspective on his father’s past might inform his character in the film while avoiding giving away any real spoilers. Leung‘s past performances will also play a major role in how this character is shaped and, hopefully, we get a lot more of him in the future.

Source: Weibo via YouTube

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ upcoming release will mark an important milestone for Marvel Studios. It’ll be their first Asian-American-led project with Simu Liu taking on the role of the titular hero. It’s also their first attempt at a Kung fu-inspired film that honors the film of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and many more. In the interview, he revealed that Marvel Studios took the challenge quite seriously as they changed their approach to action to emphasize the choreography.

This movie is the first time that I think Marvel has put a lot of their emphasis in the action design and, specifically, the choreography. And it’s their first time really tackling a more purely martial arts movie, which is super exciting to be a part of. They obviously didn’t hire me because I’m amazing at martial arts movies, so there’s also a very strong emotional, dramatic and comedic element to these characters.

Destin Daniel Cretton

He even goes on to highlight how they took a Buster Keaton storytelling approach with some of the action sequences. The first clip released for the film highlighted this approach, as you can see physical comedy with various payoffs. Cretton calls it just a small taste of what the film has to offer.

The first glimpse at action seems promising, as it doesn’t rely on over-editing that some MCU films shave done in the past. The approach of adapting Keaton-style storytelling is also a perfect tribute to the way that Jackie Chan also molded his martial arts films. He famously paid tribute to the famous clock hanging sequence from Safety Last! in his film Project A back in 1983. We can’t wait to see what action awaits us, especially when Shang-Chi faces off against his father Wenwu.

Source: Fandango, YouTube

There have been many questions surrounding the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings film. The biggest was when exactly it takes place during the Sacred Timeline. Marvel Studios could explore his story during the five-year gap after Thanos snapped half of all existence from the universe. They might even explore his story before the snap, as he confronts his father on the evil that he sees within the Ten Ring organization. Well, it looks like we finally got confirmation as director Destin Daniel Cretton discussed the film in an interview with Fandango. In it, he made the following statement on when it takes place:

Shang-Chi is set in the present day in the MCU timeline.

Destin Daniel Cretton

Fandango goes on to ask if he definitely means post-snap, which he goes on to confirm. He doesn’t go into detail where it exactly fits, but it’s a good confirmation as Marvel Studios have moved away from strictly following their releases alongside their timeline placement. Black Widow took place during the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Loki made the placements of future entries even more complicated due to the introduction of the multiverse, which adds some more complexity to Marvel Studios’ approach.

The big confusion is the wording of “post-snap,” as that would place it before the events of Avengers: Endgame. The result of that film was titled the blip, but there’s the possibility Cretton is referencing that event which also included a snap to undo what Thanos has done. So, we might still have to speculate on which snap he is referencing for just a few more weeks.

Source: Fandango

It looks like Shang-Chi‘s marketing has finally ramped up, as we got a brand new IMAX poster for the film. Yet, there’s also a rather curious detail on it. While we see the Great Protector dragon, which was hinted at through a leaked Funko Pop and then confirmed in a brief sequence during the last trailer, he is joined by another strange dragon. In the exclusive reveal by ComicBook.com, they confirm that it is a greenish-black dragon.

Now, the colors might be familiar to many that followed the comics, and our reports from back in September, there were hints at Fin Fang Foom’s lair, The Valley of the Sleeping Dragon, getting included in the film. We thought it might’ve been used for the white Great Protector, but it seems it might house two dragons. His design is also quite different from the comics. So, it might be a different one entirely but Marvel Studios is no stranger to changing the designs of comic characters. The color scheme would at least hint at a connection between the two.

No matter what character it turns south to be, the inclusion of more dragons opens up the film to a lot of interesting details we might’ve missed. Perhaps the Ten Rings have a different purpose after all and the green dragon is why the organization was born. It could also be the namesake for the Great Protector. There’s a lot of potential his inclusion could hint at, which might also be why they randomly included him in this poster.

Source: Comic Book