Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings

  • Leaked LEGO Set Offers First Look at ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’

    Leaked LEGO Set Offers First Look at ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’

    As a result of the ongoing pandemic, Marvel Studios’ release schedule has suffered some significant delays. Multiple films have been pushed back by an entire year, such as Black Widow and Eternals. With all these delays, fans had to wait even longer to get first looks at some of their most anticipated films from Phase 4. One of Marvel’s most exciting upcoming features is Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. The film will see the debut of Simu Liu as the kung-fu master. Much of the film’s plot has been kept under wraps, with some of the most intriguing points being that the film will see the debut of the real Mandarin, who got previously teased in Iron Man 3‘s One-Shot, All Hail the King. Some recently leaked Lego sets surrounding the film may give us a better idea of what’s in store for fans in the upcoming film.

    https://twitter.com/cosmic_marvel/status/1365217872616677380?s=21

    The set offers the first look at a showdown in what seems to be an ancient village. It depicts a fight between Shang-Chi and his foes, giving us a tease of the characters Death Dealer, Wenwu, and Xialang. Of course, one of the most notable features of the set happens to be the giant, red and white dragon spewing blue fire. It’s unclear what side the beast is on, but its appearance nonetheless is striking. His inclusion may confirm this is the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon, which Charles Murphy reported on around five months ago. It is the lair of Fin Fang Foom, who may not be the only dragon in the upcoming film. The set also includes what seems to be a flying bug named Morris. There doesn’t seem to be any bug with that name in the comics, but it turns out it is a Dijiang that it is a creature from Chinese mythology.

    Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings will release on July 9th, 2021. The film was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and will star Simu Liu alongside Awkafina, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng, Florian Munteanu, and Tony Leung as the Mandarin.

    Source: Twitter

  • Deep Thoughts: One Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2021 Release Calendar

    Deep Thoughts: One Hypothetical Marvel Studios 2021 Release Calendar

    Marvel Studios sat out 2020 much to the despair of MCU fans; however, one possible timeline for the studio’s release pattern in 2021 could mean we’d only have just a few content-less Friday’s in the next year!

    Last night, Edward Rose noticed that the official Disney Latino page listed WandaVision, Marvel Studios’ first Disney Plus streaming series, as having an 8-week run. That news got the wheels spinning and resulted in a hypothetical release schedule that would leave fans hanging on only 2 weekends. The underlying idea of this hypothetical scenario is putting new Marvel Studios content on as many Fridays as possible.

    2021 will kick off with the first episode of Marvel Studios Legends on January 8th, catching fans up on the adventures of Wanda, Vision and maybe the rest of the returning cast members. The following week, WandaVision would begin its 8-week run (which does not necessarily mean 8 episodes and that really shouldn’t be that controversial of a statement) which would conclude on March 5th. Additionally, we’ll almost certainly get our first look at Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings during this time, with the February 7th Super Bowl being on likely opportunity.

    While we have no confirmation of a Marvel Studios Legends episode for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, it seems like a safe bet and if we bet on it happening, March 12th, pinned between the end of WandaVision and the beginning of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, seems like a pretty safe date. So March 12th recaps the zany adventures of Sam, Bucky, Zemo, Sharon and crew and then The Falcon and The Winter Solider would follow, beginning on March 19th and running for six weeks (this was CONFIRMED in the Disney Investor Day Fact Sheet), concluding its run on April 23rd.

    Apri 30th would be a great time to tell the story of Natasha Romanoff with a Marvel Studios Legends episode dedicated to the Black Widow. While this is a Disney Plus series, there’s been no indication that the series will only tell the tales of the characters appearing in the Disney Plus series and in Nat’s case, there’s plenty to tell. This would give old fans and new viewers alike the opportunity to be prepped and ready for Black Widow when it FINALLY hits theaters on May 7th. Black Widow also provides Marvel Studios the opportunity to push out the first look at Eternals. Expect a trailer for the project a week or two before Black Widow’s May 7th release.   ***NOTE*** Should Marvel Studios films open overseas earlier than in the U.S. date, this part of the hypothetical schedule hits a bit of a speed bump.

    The Marvel Studios Disney Plus streaming series, Loki, is next up. Loki is set to release in May, meaning Marvel Studios will have two projects out at the same time and as long as Black Widow remains a theatrical release, they’ll want as many butts in seats as possible. To that end, they’ll definitely give Black Widow a little room to breathe. Theatrical releases often make 50% or more of their total box office on the first weekend and rarely do “big money” after the second weekend. With this in mind, they might look to release a Loki-centric episode of Marvel Studios Legends on May 14th (there’s certainly a LOT to tell) and debut the first episode of Loki Season One the following Friday, May 21st. All indications at this point are that the Hiddleston-led streamer will run for 6 episodes, meaning it’ll wrap up on June 25th.

    At this point, it looks like Marvel Studios could realistically release new content EVERY Friday for the first six months of the year save New Year’s Day…and then comes July 2nd, which will launch the 4th of July holiday weekend in the United States. It’s possible that the studio takes the weekend off, has something special in the works for the Fourth (it is Steve Rogers birthday, after all) or, I suppose they could release an episode of Marvel Studios Legends dedicated to the MCU’s brief and confusing history of the Mandarin and the Ten Rings. The last one makes a bit of sense because, on July 9th, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is going to rewrite that history when it debuts in theaters.

    The further down the road and into 2021 this hypothetical schedule goes, the harder it is to predict, but why stop now? Next up for Marvel Studios is What If…?, their first animated project. The only available info on the project is that it’s set to be released next Summer and, according to several reports, is expected to consist of 10 episodes. Placing it on the schedule under the assumptions that they’ll give a theatrical film at least one weekend all to itself and that they’ll release What If…? one episode at a time as well, the animated series could debut on July 16th and conclude on September 17th.

    In thinking ahead, that long gap serves a fairly important purpose if the goal is to provide new content every Friday: it allows Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye to “catch up.” The starts of both of those series were severely delayed by the pandemic and are currently scheduled for “late Fall.” If production continues without delays and the calendar fills out as predicted above, the two series could stream on either side of Eternals. 

    According to the Disney Investor Day Fact Sheet, Ms. Marvel comes first and could start its six-episode run on September 24th. It’s possible that the studio could push out a Marvel Studios Legends episode about Captain Marvel given the connection between Kamala Khan and her, but it’s also possible they just start right up. If they do, the Season One finale of Ms. Marvel would stream on October 29th.

    One week later, on November 5th, Eternals would make its LONG awaited degut in theaters. By introducing an entirely new group of characters, Eternals seems unlikely to be preceded by an episode of Marvel Studios Legends, though anything and anyone could show up in the film.

    ***NOTE*** after finding some new evidence, this paragraph was changed to reflect Hawkeye as a 6-episode series, so it would end on Christmas Eve.

    Following the pattern previously laid out around theatrical releases, November 12th could be a nice Friday for the Clint Barton episode of Marvel Studios Legends. Set photos have indicated that Hawkeye, the studio’s final 2021 project, takes place during the holidays so kicking it off on November 19th would give fans episodes on the day after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Ever. All signs point to this one being a 6-episode season, meaning we’d wrap up before the calendar turns over to 2022. Assuming no production delays, Marvel Studios would have the opportunity to jump right into She-Hulk and continue taking over the world of entertainment.

    Currently set to release on December 17th, 2021, Spider-Man 3 (which is scheduled by Sony and NOT Marvel Studios) throws a monkey wrench into the thought process of not having a film premier compete with an episode of a streaming series, but there are so many workarounds for that issue (Hawkeye taking a week off, the release date for the film being moved since production got off to a late start, Hawkeye not even starting until after Spider-Man 3) that it really becomes a non-issue.

    While the chances of this hypothetical release calendar coming to fruition are approximately 3,720 to 1, the point of this wasn’t to plant a flag so we can do some chest-pounding later, but to extrapolate one possible release schedule based on the idea of having new Marvel Studios content on as many 2021 Fridays as possible. Right or wrong (and let’s be honest, this is almost certainly wrong), an exercise like this makes visible the scale of the studio’s plans and the role that Disney Plus plays in them: Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios will own at least a portion of the news cycle nearly every weekend for the foreseeable future.

  • Florian Munteanu is Playing Black Jack Tarr in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    Florian Munteanu is Playing Black Jack Tarr in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    Before you go any further, please note that this is what we call a “Connecting Imaginary Dots” feature. We are not claiming any insider knowledge; this article is PURELY speculation.

    If you’re not familiar with the “Connecting Imaginary Dots” features here at Murphy’s Multiverse, these are speculative pieces, and so although we’ve gathered evidence to support our conclusions, we cannot officially or 100% prove them at the time. The speculation may turn out to be right or wrong, but we still think it’s worth sharing with you all for considersation.

    In this Connecting Imaginary Dots, I will explain why I believe that in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Florian “Big Nasty” Munteanu is playing another mountain of a man: Black Jack Tarr.

    Why do I believe this? Well, back on January 30, Murphy’s Multiverse broke the news that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings would introduce 3 significant MI-6 characters: Leiku Wu, Clive Reston, and Black Jack Tarr. In the previously mentioned article by Charles, Tarr is described as “an elite martial artist who enjoys the thrill of the battle.” That certainly sounds like a good fit for “Big Nasty” doesn’t it? Tarr is a bit of a rough, gruff, hot head who starts out as a combatant to Shang-Chi, but later becomes a friend and ally. That would most likely mean the actor who played him would be filming a significant time, and judging by the panel above, it would require another “mountain of a man” to play the character.

    In addition, the amount of time Munteanu has spent in Australia this year while they were filming seems significant. We know via his Instagram that he arrived in Sydney in mid January and was there until at least March 19th. It is shortly after he arrives in January that Shang-Chi himself, Simu Liu started following him on Instagram and liking and replying to many of his posts. Awkwafina too, started mutually following and liking his posts. All of this, and other hints and winks from Munteanu along the way, gave pretty much anyone who was paying attention the idea that he was more than likely in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

    A more recent mutual follow, post, and interaction with Munteanu made me all the more suspicious that he is in fact playing Tarr. Check out the post below about his return to Sydney to finish what they started and the reply by actress Fala Chen who seems to have started mutually following him fairly recently.

    What the reply and likes and mutual follow here tells me is that they probably have some screen time together, and if Fala Chen is indeed playing Leiku Wu, as we have surmised (and currently who she is listed as playing in IMDB), then the most likely character he is playing is Black Jack Tarr.

    An edit to add: A quick search online puts Black Jack Tarr at 6’6″ and 300 lbs. Now, how many well established actors out there can even come close to that? Not many. A search for Florian Munteanu puts him at 6’4″ and 235-245 lbs. If they want to come close to “the man not even Kung Fu can smash” then “Big Nasty” certainly sounds about right!

  • ‘Shang-Chi’ Production Ready to Return to Filming

    ‘Shang-Chi’ Production Ready to Return to Filming

    A brand new video and report today from 7 News in Australia reveals a fresh look at work being done on a set for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Sydney. Check it out below!

    The report also indicated that cast has returned and they would resume filming in the coming days. Check out the full video from Facebook below!

  • New Casting Call for Archers in ‘Shang-Chi’

    New Casting Call for Archers in ‘Shang-Chi’

    We’ve been seeing signs for a while now that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings might be resuming filming very soon, from actors Simu Liu and Awkwafina doing Instagrams from trailers, to other actors returning to Sydney. But now a new sign (literally) from Twitter user @mma_tuesday indicates someone is searching for Chinese archers at FOX studios.

    While it doesn’t specifically say it’s for a Marvel movie or Shang-Chi, it’s certainly a safe bet it is, as @mma_tuesday indicates in his tweet. It would seem from a previous tweet that he saw the notice at a local archery range. I am curious how many they’re looking for, but chances are it’s enough for an army!

    Murphy’s Multiverse has previously reported links to an ancient army and perhaps Genghis Khan himself. With a fairly long shoot of a month and a half for these archers, beginning mid August through the end of September, it seems to be a significant part of the film!

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: Actress Fala Chen May Have a Key Role in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    Connecting Imaginary Dots: Actress Fala Chen May Have a Key Role in ‘SHANG-CHI’

    For those of you unfamiliar with the Connecting the Imaginary Dots articles on Murphy’s Multiverse, basically this is for stuff we find, that is not officially confirmed, but are more speculative pieces based on other information and “proof” we are putting together to make our conclusions.

    A very recent Connecting Imaginary Dots written by me was just today confirmed to be correct by Discussing Film. You can check out my previous detective work here!

    This Connecting Imaginary Dots may not have quite as much backup as my Erin Kellyman article linked above, but strap in people because I really think I’m onto something here too!

    Let’s begin with a quite accidental find while I was a bit bored and looking for more news to share with you all. As you will see below, actress Fala Chen, who can be seen in HBO drama The Undoing starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant this Fall, has some rather interesting Marvel related follows.

    More importantly, Simu Liu and Destin Cretton (star and director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, respectively) are mutual follows with Fala. Now of course actors can mutually follow each other, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re working together. But it made me look a little closer.

    This post is from Fala’s Instagram on January 3rd 2020. At first it isn’t obvious but a few commenters on the post guessed it and then it became obvious by the symbol on the upper right of the screen. She is on an Air New Zealand plane. Likely traveling somewhere “down under.”

    A check on her Twitter shows a link to the same post but a bit more information in the tags: #newjob, #actorslife

    And to that I say, “Ah-ha!… The plot thickens!”

    The following post on January 24th shows Fala preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year with friends, presumably somewhere in New Zealand or Australia.

    Notice who liked it?

    Another post below was a few days later but obviously the same dinner of dumplings being prepared. See who liked it again? And that comment?!

    Hmmmmm….

    Now do me a favor okay? Scroll up this page back to the image around the table. See the guy with the black t-shirt working on the *green* dough?

    Those arms, those pecks…Could that by any chance be our upcoming superhero Shang-Chi, aka Simu Liu himself, helping prepare the dumplings? You can probably guess, I think it is!

    Further evidence of her filming Shang-Chi or something there for an extended period include her arriving January 3rd but not seeming to leave until a February 22 post in Los Angeles (which director Destin Cretton liked), a Valentine’s day flowers picture which appears to be in a very nice cast trailer, and a post on February 12 talking about unwinding after a 13 hour work day.

    Yup. Obviously this is not confirmed or official by any means but I would have to say an actress that is mutually followed by the star and director of a movie, travels to a far away place where they’re filming, stays over a month and a half, hangs out with the star, gets her posts liked by both, etc, etc… She’s probably working on Shang-Chi. And probably a significant role.

    For an idea who Fala Chen may be playing look back at this Charles Murphy Exclusive back in January which stated that MI-6 agents Clive Reston, Black Jack Tarr, and Leiko Wu are being introduced in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

    “A Chinese female, 26-39 for Wu”

    Fala is a very beautiful, 38 year old Chinese born actress who, per her IMDb page, speaks Mandarin, English, Cantonese, and Japanese. This would most certainly be a perfect fit for Leiko Wu.

     

  • New ‘SHANG-CHI’ Description May Lend Further Credibility to the “Tournament” Leak

    Several months ago, an alleged leak of the plot of the upcoming Marvel Studios feature film, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, indicated that the titular character would enter into an underground Kung Fu tournament in order to try to win the legendary Ten Rings. The leak can be found at the bottom of the page.

    Over the past several months, I’ve been able to uncover evidence, in the form of casting calls, that might support that leak. First, a call went out for a ringside fight announcer which was followed by a call for actors with martial arts experience and professional wrestlers. Now, a third new character description has surfaced that seems to follow the trend.

    Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is looking for a male to film a one scene cameo in which he will livestream the film’s main characters as they enter into what is described as a large scale fight. The character, named “KANE”, is traveling with the main characters on a bus when the fight occurs. Could this bus trip be taking the characters to a location for the underground tournament? We’ll have to wait and see, but one thing we can say for sure is we have not seen any evidence to suggest the tournament leak is purely fan fiction. If you haven’t read it, check out the original leak below. Make sure to let us know your thoughts on the tournament in the comments!

    An alien spaceship landed in China hundreds of years ago. The ship was powered by the Ten Rings, magical relics that all serve a different purpose. The rings were looted by a secret society known as the Avatars, which is led by a wise martial artist simply called the Ancestor. The Ancestor wore the rings and used them to become an expert fighter.

    The Mandarin grew up hearing about the ancestor’s story and was fascinated by it, despite everyone else believing it was just a myth. He began to idolize the Ancestor, and devoted his life to finding the rings. This inspired him to form his own mafia, which is the Ten Rings gang. Basically, the point of the gang is look for the rings all around the world. He adopted his niece, Fah Lo Suee (Awkwafina) and taught her martial arts.

    After years of investigation, he discovers that the legend of the ten rings are real, and that the Ancestor is dying. There was a leak a little while back that Shang-Chi is a tournament film, and that’s actually true. When the Ancestor dies, the Avatars will run a secret tournament/kung-fu trial in which the winner will be granted the rings. The Mandarin is too old to compete, and he doesn’t want to risk Fah Lo Suee’s life. That’s where Shang-Chi is going to come in.

    Shang is a street urchin who meets the Mandarin after he starts dating Fah. The Mandarin takes a liking in Shang and starts training him as his apprentice. His first task, as an act of gang initiation, is to kill Trevor for impersonating the Mandarin. People speculated that they would be related, but it will be more of a Walter White/Jesse Pinkman dynamic.

    When the tournament begins, the Mandarin will send Shang to win and get the rings for him. That’ll be the basic gist of the film pretty much. I know that defeating Fin Fang Foom will be an obstacle. Leiko Wu and Clive Reston will be in the movie as SHIELD agents who are investigating the Ten Rings gang. Shang-Chi will obviously betray the Mandarin and become a hero over the course of the film. He will get the ability to create multiple duplicates of himself. It will be an ‘Orphan Black’ situation, where each clone of himself has their own personality. So the fights will obviously be insane to witness.

    Marvel is casting Shang’s enemies in the tournament, and one of them will be a character named Chao.

  • Connecting Imaginary Dots: Another Potential Addition to ‘SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS’

    If you’ve never read an installment of Connecting Imaginary Dots, allow me to explain the idea. Connecting Imaginary Dots was the title I came up with for my speculation pieces when I was writing at MCU Exchange. These types of pieces basically allow me to unload a bunch of junk that’s circulating in my brain in a way that should never be confused for things I actually expect to happen. I basically take a bunch of facts that are almost always entirely unrelated and do my best to connect the dots with by stretching my imagination. In the past these types of pieces have resulted in me theorizing that the Spider-Man sequel which became Far From Home might end up being a team-up outing of Spidey and Hulk in the Savage Land;however, I also wrote one theorizing that Sterling K. Brown would be playing the father of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther LOOOOOONG before anyone else was considering it and one in which I theorized that Annette Bening was actually Mar-Vell when everyone else still thought Jude Law was playing the character. The bottom line is this: these are fun spec pieces that allow me to just be a fan. With that out of the way…

    Last week I was able to get my hands on some Shang-Chi info. As you probably know by now, I was able to confirm that Leiko Wu, Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr, allies of the Master of Kung Fu, were all in the script. For the last week, I’ve been doing some thinking about another character and I think I may have figured it out.

    I’m writing this as sort of retelling of my thought process and I also want to be clear that the best I’ve been able to do here is connect some dots using my pre-existing knowledge of Shang-Chi comics and the info I was able to get last week.

    Here we go…

    In addition to the characters mentioned above, the studio was also casting for a character named “YAEKIO.” Now there is no Marvel Comics character of whom I am aware named Yaekio. There’s a Yukio and I’m sure a lot of people would have made the jump to this being that character, but there’s more to the story: they’re open to any ethnicity for this AMERICAN character and, as you know, Yukio’s Japanese origins are crucial to developing that character. None of that is really the important information here, but it is background info that will help fill out the rest of the story. The important information is that Yaekio is described as the partner of a character referred to as Su-Mi.

    I spent a few days doing some thinking that kept taking me down the same path. Between Yaekio sounding like Yukio and Su-Mi being similarly constructed to Shang-Chi, I was sure that these were Asian characters who were just codenamed and I was just not thinking of the right ones. Then, I started to go down an different path, focusing more on the “American” and “partner” aspects of the casting and it was down that path that I found the character who I think makes the most sense. Rufus Carter, aka Super-Midnight!

    Image result for marvel rufus carter

    Rufus Carter is a CIA agent who first appeared in Master of Kung Fu #96 who met Shang-Chi and Leiko Wu when their separate missions intersected on a mission in London. Shang-Chi and Wu were already left MI-6 at the time and were working for the private consulting firm known as Freelance Restorations (the name of this film’s production company). Carter left the CIA and continued to occasionally cross paths with the gang from Freelance Restorations and was an ally to Shang-Chi in the way the Felix Leiter often was to James Bond. 

    Image result for marvel rufus carter

    For those reasons alone, Carter makes a lot of sense for Su-Mi, but there’s one more thing about Carter that really helps push me closer to believing it’s him. Carter is an elite fighter, skilled in both kickboxing and martial arts. If this “tournament” leak is true and the Ten Rings are the prize, you can be sure that the CIA would do what they could to send an undercover agent in to fight for the prize. If we connect ALL THOSE DOTS, and to be sure that’s all this is, some really crazy guess work, Super-Midnight is the guy! 15 Likes

  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘SHANG-CHI’ Confirmed to Introduce Multiple MI-6 Characters

    Production on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to get underway shortly in Australia and some casting information has begun to leak including some very exciting, if not expected, news: the film will introduce MI-6 agents Leiko Wu, Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr.

    MI-6 or Military Intelligence, Section 6 is the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service and has played a major role in the Master of Kung Fu comics on which Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is based. After coming to understand the true nature of his father, international terrorist and crime lord Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi worked alongside and then with MI-6, most frequently teaming up with agents Clive Reston, Black Jack Tarr and Leiko Wu, with whom he also had a romantic relationship.

    The film will apparently introduce the idea that Shang-Chi worked for MI-6 at one time, but has since made his “departure from the world.” Reston (whose now confirmed presence in the film was first rumored by HNE) is described as Shang-Chi’s old partner and friend who is now married to Leiko Wu, an elite MI-6 operative who once had “strong feelings” for the Master of Kung Fu. Fellow MI-6 agentBlack Jack Tarr, always up for a fight in the comics, is described as an “elite martial artist who enjoys the thrill of the battle.”

    The studio was searching for a Caucasian male, 45-50 for Reston; a Chinese female, 26-39 for Wu; a Caucasian male 30-49 for Tarr. It is believed that these roles have been filled at this time though I was unable to get responses from representatives of several actors.

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will hit theaters February 12, 2021.

  • EXCLUSIVE: SHANG-CHI Casting For Ring Announcers; Could Support Longstanding Tournament “Leak”

    Shang-Chi is preparing to begin filming after the new year and is currently casting a plethora of small, supporting roles. One such role, for a ringside fight announcer, might just support one a plot “leak” that appeared on Reddit just a short while ago. You can read a transcription of the now deleted leak below:

    An alien spaceship landed in China hundreds of years ago. The ship was powered by the Ten Rings, magical relics that all serve a different purpose. The rings were looted by a secret society known as the Avatars, which is led by a wise martial artist simply called the Ancestor. The Ancestor wore the rings and used them to become an expert fighter.

    The Mandarin grew up hearing about the ancestor’s story and was fascinated by it, despite everyone else believing it was just a myth. He began to idolize the Ancestor, and devoted his life to finding the rings. This inspired him to form his own mafia, which is the Ten Rings gang. Basically, the point of the gang is look for the rings all around the world. He adopted his niece, Fah Lo Suee (Awkwafina) and taught her martial arts.

    After years of investigation, he discovers that the legend of the ten rings are real, and that the Ancestor is dying. There was a leak a little while back that Shang-Chi is a tournament film, and that’s actually true. When the Ancestor dies, the Avatars will run a secret tournament/kung-fu trial in which the winner will be granted the rings. The Mandarin is too old to compete, and he doesn’t want to risk Fah Lo Suee’s life. That’s where Shang-Chi is going to come in.

    Shang is a street urchin who meets the Mandarin after he starts dating Fah. The Mandarin takes a liking in Shang and starts training him as his apprentice. His first task, as an act of gang initiation, is to kill Trevor for impersonating the Mandarin. People speculated that they would be related, but it will be more of a Walter White/Jesse Pinkman dynamic.

    When the tournament begins, the Mandarin will send Shang to win and get the rings for him. That’ll be the basic gist of the film pretty much. I know that defeating Fin Fang Foom will be an obstacle. Leiko Wu and Clive Reston will be in the movie as SHIELD agents who are investigating the Ten Rings gang. Shang-Chi will obviously betray the Mandarin and become a hero over the course of the film. He will get the ability to create multiple duplicates of himself. It will be an ‘Orphan Black’ situation, where each clone of himself has their own personality. So the fights will obviously be insane to witness.

    Marvel is casting Shang’s enemies in the tournament, and one of them will be a character named Chao.

    While I certainly can’t speak to the authenticity of every one of the plot points included in that “leak”, the fact that the film is currently searching for ringside fight announcers, combined with the prior knowledge that they were casting for several of Shang-Chi’s comic book kung-fu opponents could very well lend a bit of credibility to this leak and we may see an MCU version of the 90’s classic martial arts film, Bloodsport. As shocking as having Fin Fang Foom and the ability to create duplicates might seem, there is enough other evidence out there to support a dragon living in certain locations and it’s possible that one of the rings could grant Shang-Chi the power to create dupes.

    What are your thoughts on how likely this is to work out? Let me know in the comments!