Released: September 3, 2021

Director:  Destin Daniel Cretton

Screenplay By:   Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham
Written By: Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton

Based On: Marvel Comics

Stars: Simu Liu (Shang Chi), Awkwafina (Katy), Meng’er Zhang (Xialing), Fala Chen (Li), Florian Munteanu (Razor Fist), Benedict Wong (Wong), Michelle Yeoh (Ying Nan), Ben Kingsley (Trevor Slattery), Tony Leung (Xu Wenwu)

Plot:  Shang-Chi, the master of unarmed weaponry-based Kung Fu, is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organization.

Shang Chi:

• First appearance: Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973)
• Created by: Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin
• The character was conceived in late 1972. Marvel Comics had wished to acquire the rights to adapt the Kung Fu television program, but were denied permission by the show’s owner, Warner Communications, owner of Marvel’s primary rival, DC Comics.
• In the late 1980s Stan Lee had considered a film/TV series about Shang-Chi, and had in mind Brandon Lee, son of martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, for the role. Shang-Chi was visually based on Bruce Lee, so Brandon seemed a fitting choice, but the plan fell through.
• Introduced as a previously unknown son of Fu Manchu. Later the son of the Mandarin after they lost the rights to Fu Manchu via the author Sax Rohmer.
• Has been an Avenger, Heroes for Hire, Agent of Atlas, Marvel Knights and more.

Mandarin:

• First appearance: Tales of Suspense #50 (cover-dated February 1964)
• Created by: Stan Lee and designed by Don Heck
• He is the archenemy of Iron Man.
• Wears 10 rings on his hands that he adapted from the alien technology of a crashed space ship. Each ring has a different power and is worn on a specific finger. A descendant of Genghis Khan.

Xialing:

• Xu Xialing (portrayed by Meng’er Zhang) is Shang-Chi’s sister. The character appears to be an amalgam of various characters including Sister Dagger along with Zheng Bao Yu and Sasha Hammer. She makes her first appearance in the film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Dweller in the Darkness:

• First appearance: The Dweller-in-Darkness was first mentioned in Thor #229-230 (November–December, 1974), by Gerry Conway and Rich Buckler. The character is first fully revealed in Doctor Strange #30 (August, 1978), by Roger Stern and Tom Sutton.
• The Dweller-in-Darkness is a demon allegedly sired by Cthulhu, from the dimension Everinnye, like the demon Nightmare. The Dweller became shunned by his people for following “The Way of the Shamblu”. Like Nightmare, the Dweller feeds on the fear of living beings; fear both increases his powers and keeps him alive.

Razor Fist:

• First appearance: Master of Kung Fu #29 (June 1975)
• Originally created by: Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy
• There have been 3 Razor Fists (they keep dying)
• The first Razor-Fist was an assassin, bodyguard, and enforcer employed by Carlton Velcro, working at Velcro’s estate on the coast of the Gulf of Lions, southern France. Velcro surgically replaced this man’s hands with steel blades. Razor Fist battled Shang-Chi, and was accidentally shot to death by Carlton Velcro’s guards. Doctor Doom later constructed two robot duplicates of Razor Fist, which he pitted against Shang-Chi.

Death Dealer:

• First appearance: Master of Kung Fu #115 in August 1982, and making his final appearance in Master of Kung Fu #118 only a few issues later
• In the comics, Death Dealer is an MI6 agent named Li Ching-Lin — though he is actually a double agent, who works for Fu Manchu. It’s only after Shang-Chi is enlisted by MI6 director Fah Lo Suee to get rid of Ching-Lin, in fact, that Ching-Lin escapes, returns to work for Fu Manchu (Shang-Chi’s father, in the source material), and is given the title of “Death Dealer.”

Ta Lo:

• First appearance: Thor Vol 1 #301 (1980)
• In the comics: Ta-Lo, also called Daluo Tian (the Great Canopy of Heaven), was one of the God Realms, among the Inner Planes, and a small “pocket” dimension adjacent to Earth, and the home dimension of the Xian. The highest of the 36 heavens of the Chinese gods.

The 10 Rings Organization:

• Created for the movies. In the comics in refers to Mandarin’s 10 rings.
• The Ten Rings is a terrorist organization dedicated to destroying world peace by any means necessary. It is believed to have been founded by a mysterious warlord known as the Mandarin.
• All the branches of the Ten Rings operated as individual cells, with every cell operating independently of each other. The leaders from each cell had no idea who anyone was in any other cell save for one contact. Each cell would receive money and weapons as long as they received them and they did not ask questions. Being a multinational organization, members of Ten Rings branches speak multiple languages, which included: Arabic, Dari, English, Farsi, Hungarian, Mongolian, Pashto, Russian, and Urdu.

• Simu Liu tweeted in December 2018 about asking Marvel for the role. He later quote tweeted that original tweet on July 20, 2019 thanking them.
  
  
• Donnie Yen was considered for the role of the Wenwu/The Mandarin before Tony Chiu-Wai Leung was cast.
  
  
• Michelle Yeoh is the second actor to get a double role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Gemma Chan for Captain Marvel (2019) and Eternals (2021). Yeoh had previously played Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Laura Haddock also had a bit part in Captain America before playing Peter Quills mother

• The movie started filming in March 2020 but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed at the end of July 2020 and ended in October 2020. This production was recognized as the first feature film to open Disney operations globally, since the COVID-19 lock down. They managed to successfully wrap production in Australia with zero positive cases and zero production standstills.
  
  
• Tony Chiu-Wai Leung knew nothing about the Mandarin, and did not try to research the character. When Marvel Studios contacted him, they gave him full authority to make his own history of the character. He did not mind playing a villainous role (his first ever), but he sought to give the character depth and history: “I tried to explore the reasons that led him to become who he is. He’s a man with history, who craves to be loved. He is a sociopath, a narcissist and a bigot, but he is also human and has a family.”
  
  
• The Mandarin sports ten rings on his forearms, five on each arm. These rings are used in martial arts training to strengthen the arms/fists.
  
  
• This is legendary Hong Kong film actor Tony Chiu-Wai Leung’s first role in an American film and his English-speaking role, even though he has always spoken it fluently. Tony Leung Chiu-wai is a Hong Kong actor and singer. He is considered one of Asia’s most successful and internationally recognized actors
  
  
• The filmmakers cite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Kung Fu Hustle (2004), Tai Chi Master (1993), the The Matrix (1999) series, Donnie Yen’s “Ip Man” films and Jackie Chan films as an influence on the martial arts action.
  
  
• It’s the twenty-fifth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  
  
• In MCU tradition there are both a mid credit scene and a post credit scene.
  
  
• The symbols in the Ten Rings logo are Chinese characters, eight of which have been deciphered: “hong” (vast), “xiong” (variously meaning majestic, male, or heroic), qiang” (strength and power), “wei” (variously meaning might or awe), “quan” (authority and might), “li” (power and strength), “zhuang” (strong, robust) and “wei” (greatness).
  
  
• Tony Chiu-Wai Leung trained for the role of the Mandarin, even though Destin Daniel Cretton said he didn’t need to do so since much of the action would involve the rings and computer-generated imagery.
  
  
• Marvel Studios released both the teaser poster and teaser trailer and Entertainment Weekly released photos of the movie on Simu Liu’s 32nd birthday.
  
  
• Shang-Chi is the first superhero film with an Asian leading protagonist for Marvel Studios.
  
  
• Tony Chiu-Wai Leung was given the script a month before filming.
  
  
• Wenwu is named after the Chinese dual concept of wen (civil administration) and wu (martial administration).
  
  
• This would be one of two projects that Bradley James Allan has worked on before his death on August 7, 2021.
  
  
• Ang Lee was going to produce the film in the early 2000s until the negative critical and fan reaction to his Hulk (2003) adaptation.
  
  
• Shang Chi’s apartment features a Kung-Fu Hustle poster. Wah Yuen, who plays Master Guang Bo, also stars in Kung-Fu Hustle as The Landlord.
  
  
• Awkwafina, Ronny Chieng, and Michelle Yeoh previously starred in Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
  
  
• Michelle Yeoh’s first time working with Tony Chiu-Wai Leung since Butterfly and Sword ( Xin liu xing hu die jian – 1993)
  
  
• Destin Daniel Cretton’s first commercial action film project. This seems to be a break for him, since he is known for his independent drama films.
  
  
• First MCU movie to be filmed primarily in Australia, to be followed by Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). Both movies were shot at Fox Studios in Sydney, which Disney acquired as part of its 2019 acquisition of Fox’s film division.
  
  
• Like Black Widow (2021), which debut two months before it, the movie contains extensive BMW product placement. Its M8 and i8 coupes are shown early in the movie in its San Francisco-set scenes, and Katy steals a then-prototype iX3 – not yet publicly revealed when filming commenced – for their journey to Ta Lo.
  
  
• This is the first ever appearance of the real Mandarin after being foreshadowed in Iron Man (2008), used as a front by two impostors in Iron Man 3 (2013) and being mentioned in Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014).
  
  
• This film features the Mandarin as Shang-Chi’s father and enemy. The Mandarin is traditionally the enemy of Iron Man/Tony Stark, but he was brought in for this film as it felt more appropriate for a Chinese hero to fight a Chinese villain.
  
  
• Furthermore, in the comics Shang-Chi’s father was the Chinese criminal mastermind Fu Manchu. The character was originally a fictional creation by Sax Rohmer, but he acquired enough renown and infamy to appear in the Marvel Comics. As time went on, Fu Manchu became considered an overly racist and stereotypical character, and so in 2010 the character was renamed Zheng Zu.
  
  
• This film, along with Eternals (2021), are thought to be the first MCU films to be denied a release in China.