Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings is still set to theaters exclusively on September 3, but it looks like we finally know who is hiding under that mysterious mask of the talented martial artist villain seen fighting Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi in that construction site and training him as a boy.
Martial artist Andy Le has confirmed he is playing the silent/faceless villain Death Dealer in Shang-Chi via Instagram posts (See below). While it’s likely we could see another celebrity reveal like with Taskmaster in Black Widow, it’s even more likely that since Florian Munteanu (a Romanian boxer) is playing Razor Fist that Andy Le is actually playing the character throughout the film and not just during stunts.
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will debut in theaters next month and it looks like another casting tidbit has been revealed for another returning MCU actor.
This comes after the trailer confirmed the film will bring back Wong and Abomination.
Stuntman Brett Metter lists on IMDB that he is the stunt double of Ben Kingsley and would seemingly confirm that the actor is reprising his role of Iron Man 3’s Trevor Slattery, the British actor hired by A.I.M. to pretend to be international terrorist and leader of The Ten Rings, The Mandarin.
We last saw Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery in the Marvel One-Shot short film All Hail The King, where it’s revealed that The Mandarin was a real person and not just fictional creation of Killan/Slattery. Various members of The Ten Rings, one played by Scoot McNairy, break into the prison to seemingly get their hands on the pretender.
However, we really never see what happens to Trevor and could see his fate in Shang-Chi.
Kingsley’s return was rumored yesterday and it looks like we now have more concrete evidence to support that.
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Netflix is moving forward with a second series set within the fantasy world of The Witcher, as they’re assembling a cast for their prequel The Witcher: Blood Origin. Their flagship series starring Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, Mission: Impossible – Fallout) has wrapped on Season 2 in the United Kingdom.
Set 1,200 years before the world of The Witcher, Blood Origin will tell the story of the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal ‘conjunction of the spheres’, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.
The streaming giant has officially announced today that action star Michelle Yeoh has nabbed a role in Blood Origin, revealing she’ll play an elf. Yeoh’s recent credits include Star Trek Discovery, Marco Polo, Last Christmas, Crazy Rich Asians, Dr. Karina Mogue in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, Karen Gillan’s action flick Gunpodwer Milkshake, and Marvel’s upcoming Asian-led superhero blockbuster Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings (will be released on September 3).
The Witcher: Blood Origin has cast Michelle Yeoh as Scían. The very last of her nomadic tribe of sword-elves, she is an artist with the blade, on a deadly quest that will change the fate of the Continent.
Irish actor Laurence O’Fuarain (Game of Thrones, Vikings) had recently joined the series in the role of Fjall. Jodie Turner-Smith (Without Remorse) was going to star as well before her reported exit.
The original series is based on the novels by Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski that was eventually turned into the internationally popular video game franchise from CD Projekt Red. Netflix is also developing an 10-episode anime series based on their new game release Cyberpunk 2077 that will be titled Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and seems like only a matter of a time before a live-action project is announced.
A brand new trailer for Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings has been released by Marvel Studios and is seems to reveal some big things. Such as Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky aka Abomination in some sort of illegally fighting ring, which might just be located in Madripoor. The seedy island nation recently introduced in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. and the hide-out for people ducking the U.S. government.
Also, Blonsky seems to be fighting someone connected to Doctor Strange and they were smart enough to hide his face, so we can’t confirm if it’s Benedict Wong’s character Wong or someone else. Although, it’s likely Wong.
I’m curious if Shang-Chi will have connections to the She-Hulk series.
I did theorize that in the last trailer we saw a flag of Madripoor in the background, while others assumed it was related to Captain America/John Walker. The lawless country would certainly be a place where Blonsky could hide from U.S. government just like Sharon Carter aka The Power Broker. I’m curious if the Ten Rings/Madripoor will be showing up in things like Armor Wars and She-Hulk.
There is also a glimpse of the dragon, The Great Protector.
Check out the new trailer below.
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.
It looks like Shang-Chi won’t only have a connection to the Matrix trilogy, but the X-Men franchise as well. The Ronin can confirm that Marvel Studios indeed had Aussie cinematographer Ross Emery working as the second unit director alongside Destin Daniel Cretton on Marvel’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings.
If you’re unfamiliar with Emery, he was the director of photography on James Mangold’s gorgeous Japanese-set superhero flick The Wolverine and Ridley Scott’s popular sci-fi HBO Max series Raised By Wolves. He also previously worked as a second unit director on Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant and with Shang-Chi cinematographer Bill Pope on The Matrix trilogy.
Second unit directors normally handle a bulk of the action sequences, Shang-Chi is being billed as superhero martial arts film and should be action-packed if the teaser trailer is any indication.
Shang-Chi’s main production took place in Sydney at Fox Studios Australia and there was some exterior shots in San Francisco too with additional photography in Los Angeles and England.
There could be an argument made that The Wolverine is the prettiest X-Men film from the 20th Century Fox era. Emery isn’t the only former X-Men franchise cinematographer working on MCU films, as The Ronin first reported that John Mathieson (X-Men: First Class, Logan) was selected by the studio to tackle Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness for director Sam Raimi.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Marvel bringing in James Mangold’s cinematographers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe means that the X-Men filmmaker will get another chance to adapt more Marvel characters in the future. It doesn’t hurt Mangold is already working with Disney by writing/director their big sequel Indiana Jones 5, which just started shooting this week at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom.
Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will hit theaters exclusively on September 3.
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Marvel Studios and Disney decided to release Black Widow on July 9 as a hybrid release on Disney+ with Premier Access and in theaters as well. There had been some question if Disney would adopt the hybrid release for other big feature films and it looks like we got some sort of answer, for the moment.
Today, it was announced by Disney during their Q2 earnings call (via Nicholas Whitcomb) that they’ll be sticking to a 45 day theatrical window for upcoming films Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings and Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy. Disney could ultimately change their minds but it looks like the two films will avoid Premier Access entirely.
Bob Chapek says FREE GUY and SHANG CHI will be released with a 45 day theatrical window and end up on DTC platforms
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Joining Simu Liu in the Marvel cast includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, and Ronny Chieng. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Charles Newirth serving as executive producers. David Callaham & Destin Daniel Cretton & Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay for the film, and experience it in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) is coming off shooting the martial arts blockbuster Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, priming audiences to embrace the first Asian-led superhero film from Marvel Studios and potentially making an impact as large as Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. I’m hopeful that the Marvel flick will continue to bust more Hollywood myths concerning Asian/Asian-American leads being successful on a global level at the box office.
While there hasn’t been any official word concerning a Shang-Chi sequel, another project is on the horizon for Destin Daniel Cretton, according to Deadline. The outlet says he’ll direct a series adaptation of the novel Facing The Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes In World War II written by Daniel James Brown.
They came from across the continent and Hawaii. Their parents taught them to embrace both their Japanese heritage and the ways of their American homeland. They faced bigotry, yet they believed in their bright futures as American citizens. But within days of Pearl Harbor, the FBI was ransacking their houses and locking up their fathers. And within months many would themselves be living behind barbed wire.
The book focuses on the brave and patriotic Japanese-American soldiers of World War II that became war heroes. A group of fighting men that faced a paranoid United States government challenging their loyalty because they happened to be of Japanese ethnicity after the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor trusting the country into the war in the Pacific. Many Japanese-American families were sent to interment camps because the government claimed they couldn’t trust them and this led to many Japanese-American men to sign-up to prove just how loyal they were to the United States, giving up their lives and fighting for the country they loved.
It’s unknown where the series will land but Destin Daniel Cretton was originally going to direct the HBO Max crime series Tokyo Vice before Shang-Chi led to a scheduling conflict and Michael Mann was brought in to direct instead. Then again, WarnerMedia recently passed on the WWII series Masters of The Air from producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, which landed at Apple TV+ instead.
Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings looks like it could be going to be another moment for Marvel Studios to give another obscure comic book superhero their own blockbuster film franchise. The Marvel Studios trailer, that debuted on Monday morning, has already earned 24.1 million views just from the Shang-Chi Twitter account (amplified by other Marvel-owned accounts) and Marvel Entertainment’s YouTube channel.
It remains to be seen if this will equal box office dollars but it’s a good sign that folks are indeed ready for an Asian-led superhero franchise from Hollywood and could be an important moment to see more high-budgeted Asian-led blockbusters in the future.
While most people might assume that Shang-Chi was a recent decision at the studio, Marvel has actually been trying to get a live-action adaption going for decades going back to the 1980s.
Brandon Lee in RAPID FIRE (1992)
Inverse was able to speak with former Marvel Productions CEO and President Margaret Loesch, who revealed that Stan Lee met with Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee (Showdown In Little Tokyo, The Crow, Rapid Fire) at the Marvel offices for a potential Shang-Chi television series in the 80s. The late Bruce Lee and his film Enter The Dragon had been the template for the martial arts superhero. Sadly, Brandon had a tragic death as he was killed during the filming of The Crow.
There were also attempts to get a feature film back 20 years.
In 2001, Blade director Stephen Norrington was reportedly attached for a feature film of Shang-Chi alongside an early incarnation of Ghost Rider too. He quietly retired after making 20th Century Fox’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and headaches he had during that production. Norrington had originally wanted to cast Jet Li as Blade villain Deacon Frost but the actor was busy shooting Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon 4. You can tell from Blade that the filmmaker was heavily influenced by Hong Kong action movies with their use of wire-work, a year before The Matrix.
DreamWorks attempted to get things going again in 2003, as Variety reported they had hired Woo-ping Yuen (True Legend) to direct and script from Band of Brothers writer Bruce McKenna. Woo-ping Yuen had been the fight choreographer for The Matrix, Kill Bill Vol.2, Kung Fu Hustle, The Forbidden Kingdom, The Grandmaster, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Oscar-winner Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi) boarded as a producer in 2004, a year after his Hulk movie was released. However, the rights to Shang-Chi eventually reverted back to Marvel.
Fast-forward to Marvel Studios being acquired by Disney and in late 2018 Deadline reported that the studio would be seeking a director for their Shang-Chi movie. Director Destin Daniel Cretton was ultimately selected with Canadian actor Simu Liu announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 as landing the superhero role.
Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings will be released by Disney on September 3, 2021.
SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS – Marvel Studios’ “Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings” stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, who must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization. The film also stars Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, as well as Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu and Ronny Chieng.
Earlier today Marvel Studios dropped the first wave of promotion for Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming flick Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, which showcased a lot of the action scenes featuring the martial arts superhero played by Canadian actor Simu Liu.
One of the more interesting elements of the trailer released is that we see Tony Leung’s Wenwu in full costume as the iconic Iron Man villain, The Mandarin (seen above). However, we clearly see Wenwu wearing modern clothing in contemporary scenes and has a shorter haircut. It seems like this is actually a shot in the past and potentially connected to The Ten Rings’ obsession with Genghis Khan, first mentioned by Ten Rings member Raza in the original Iron Man film when Tony Stark is forced to build them weapons in a cave after being kidnapped.
Here is Raza’s speech from Iron Man.
“The bow and arrow once was the pinnacle of weapons technology. It was used by Genghis Khan to forge an empire that stretched across Asia, from the wintry woods of Ukraine to the Eastern shores of Korea. Now, whoever holds the weapons manufactured by Stark Industries rules the world… and soon, it will be MY turn.”
The Mandarin claims linage with Genghis Khan in the comic books and would explain why he was chosen to become the surrogate character to play Shang-Chi’s father in the film. His is father in the comic book is the infamous Fu Manchu and had to be updated as that character has long been considered an Asian racial stereotype. Wenwu can be given a lot more depth to his character while Fu Manchu would have simply just been a caricature of Asian villains in western culture.
We also see a huge battle with an army on horseback which looks to also be in the past, potentially alluding to Wenwu having the ability to extend his life (thanks to the Ten Rings?) or potentially is Genghis Khan himself. There is already a supernatural element with superpowers on display alongside large Foodog-like creatures.
In the comics, there is another group other than the MCU’s Ten Rings that has a close connection with Genghis Khan and Shang-Chi, that would be The Atlas Empire aka Atlas Foundation. A secretive group that mandates that leaders must have linage to Genghis Khan, you might know them better via Agents of Atlas a group of heroes that are led/recruited by Randall Park’s Jimmy Woo (eventually leads Atlas as well) and in more recent incarnations has Shang-Chi on the roster. They also happen to have a secret base of operations, Temple of Atlas, below San Francisco, the same American city where Shang-Chi has been calling home for the last decade (Jimmy Woo was also stationed there in Ant-Man & The Wasp).
I’ve actually been talking-up the idea that The Atlas Empire/Agents of Atlas could have a connection to Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings going back to April 2019. Having these potential scenes linking Wenwu to Genghis Khan seems to only bolster the possibility of Atlas being introduced in Shang-Chi. That would, of course, lead to the Agents of Atlas eventually joining the MCU. It’s worth mentioning one of the original members recruited by Jimmy Woo just happens to be Namor’s cousin Namora.
Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings releases on September 3, 2021.
Marvel Studios recently moved the release date of Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings from July 9, 2021 to September 3, 2021 as they delayed Black Widow to that July spot.
There is now word of yet another casting addition to the Asian-led superhero flick. Actor Dallas Liu (Pen15) has reportedly joined the cast of Shang-Chi according to Deadline, however, the outlet doesn’t mention the character he’ll be playing.
Production wrapped last year with the filming primarily taking place at Fox Australia Studios in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They paused filming in early 2020 due to the pandemic but resumed last summer and was able to complete principal photography along with some brief exterior shots in San Francisco.
The film’s cast includes Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Awkwafina as Katy, Tony Leung as Wenwu aka The Mandarin, Michelle Yeoh, Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Meng’er Zhang as Xialing, Fala Chen as Jiang Li, and Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist.
Shang-Chi aka Master of Kung-Fu, as his title would suggest is an expert in martial arts and eventually in the comics was given the super-human ability to make copies of himself, not unlike mutant character Multiple Man. It’s unclear if we’ll be seeing Shang-Chi’s more recent power-set or if that will come later.
While unconfirmed, there is a strong possibility the film will attempt to introduce/tease the Atlas Foundation (base of operations is underneath San Francisco), which could lead to the superhero team Agents of Atlas joining the MCU. A recent incarnation has Shang-Chi as a member and Randall Park’s FBI Agent Jimmy Woo has always had a leadership role on the roster.
We’ll continue to hope that we’ll get a Shang-Chi trailer in the very near future.
THE RONIN 