- “A Marvel legend will rise.”
- ―Tagline
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a Marvel film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was released on September 3, 2021 . It is the twenty-fifth film in the MCU and the second film of Phase Four.
Contents
Synopsis
Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.
Plot
Thousands of years ago, Xu Wenwu finds the Ten Rings, ten mystical weapons that grant their user immortality and great power. Xu Wenwu amasses an army of warriors called the Ten Rings and conquers many kingdoms and topples governments throughout history. In 1996, Xu Wenwu begins searching for the village of Ta Lo, which is said to harbor various mythical beasts, in order to expand his power. He finds the entrance of the village, but is stopped from entering by the village's guardian, Ying Li. The two fall in love and have two children, Shang-Chi and Xialing. Xu Wenwu abandons the ten rings and his organization to be with his family. However, Li is eventually murdered by the Iron Gang, old rivals of the Ten Rings, and Xu Wenwu once again takes up the rings to exact deadly revenge against them and resume his criminal activities. Shang-Chi begins training in martial arts, becoming a master of hand-to-hand combat, and is sent by Xu Wenwu at the age of 14 to assassinate the leader of the Iron Gang. After fulfilling his mission, a traumatized Shang-Chi escapes to San Francisco, where he adopts the name "Shaun".
In the present day, Shang-Chi works as a valet with his best friend, Katy. While on the bus on their way to work, Shang-Chi and Katy are attacked by the Ten Rings led by Razor Fist. Shang-Chi fights them off but discovers that his pendant given to him by his mother has been taken. Fearing that the Ten Rings will attack Xialing for her pendant, Shang-Chi decides to track her down and reveals his past to Katy, who agrees to help him. They find her at an Golden Daggers Club in Macau, which she owns; Xialing expresses her resentment toward Shang-Chi and their father. The fight club is then attacked by the Ten Rings, with Xu Wenwu unexpectedly arriving to capture Shang-Chi, Katy, and Xialing.
They are taken to the Ten Rings' compound, where Xu Wenwu reveals that he believes Li is still alive and is being kept in Ta Lo, using the two pendants to create a map that can be used to enter the village. Xu Wenwu plans to destroy the village after freeing his wife and imprisons his children and Katy when they object. The three escape the compound with the help of former actor Trevor Slattery, whom the Ten Rings imprisoned for impersonating Xu Wenwu.
Guided by Slattery's Dijiang companion Morris, the group drives to Ta Lo to warn the village of the Ten Rings and meet Ying Nan, Li's sister. She reveals to the group the history of Ta Lo: thousands of years ago, it was attacked by the soul-consuming Dweller-in-Darkness and his minions. However, the village was saved by a dragon called the Great Protector, who helped seal the Dweller and his minions in a mountain. According to Nan, the Dweller has been influencing Xu Wenwu into believing Li is still alive so he will use the rings to break the seal. The villagers, Shang-Chi, Xialing, and Katy train and prepare for their arrival.
Xu Wenwu and the Ten Rings arrive to destroy the seal and a battle ensues. Xu Wenwu and Shang-Chi fight, which ends with Xu Wenwu casting Shang-Chi into the nearby lake. Guided by Li's voice, Xu Wenwu begins breaking down the seal with the rings, which unbeknownst to him causes many of the Dweller's minions to escape. The villagers and the Ten Rings call a truce in order to stop the minions. Shang-Chi is revived by the Great Protector before rising out of the water to battle the minions. Xu Wenwu and Shang-Chi fight once more, with Shang-Chi emerging victorious. Strengthened by the souls taken by the minions, the Dweller escapes. Recognizing that his wife is dead, a humbled Xu Wenwu sacrifices himself to save Shang-Chi and gives him the ten rings. The Dweller is eventually killed by the combined efforts of Shang-Chi, the Great Protector, Xialing, and Katy.
Shang-Chi and Katy return to San Francisco, where they are summoned by the sorcerer Wong to accompany him to the Sanctum Sanctorum. In the mid-credits scene, Shang-Chi speaks with Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers, and discover that the ten rings are emitting a mysterious signal. Wong tells them to get rest for the journey ahead. They agree, but first they have an idea. All three of them go to a karaoke bar and have a good time. In the post-credits scene, Xialing becomes the new leader of the Ten Rings. She tells her men that they have work to do.
Cast
- Simu Liu as Shang-Chi[1]
- Jayden Tianyi Zhang as Young Shang-Chi
- Arnold Sun as Teenage Shang-Chi
- Awkwafina as Katy[2]
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Xu Wenwu
- Meng'er Zhang as Xialing
- Harmonie He as Teenage Xialing
- Fala Chen as Ying Li[3]
- Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist
- Michelle Yeoh as Ying Nan
- Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery[4]
- Benedict Wong as Wong
- Andy Le as Li Ching-Ling/Death Dealer
- Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon[5]
- Dallas Liu as Ruihua[6]
- Jodi Long as Mrs. Chen
- Zach Cherry as Klev
- Stephanie Hsu as Soo
- Fernando Chien as Gao Lei
- Dee Bradley Baker as Morris (voice)
- Yuen Wah as Master Guang Bo[7]
- Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination (Uncredited)
- Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner (Uncredited)
- Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Uncredited)
Production
On June 11, 2019, it was announced via Production Weekly, that Marvel Studios had tasked Sue Chan to begin working on the film, as production designer.[8]
On October 26, 2019, it was reported that filming has begun in Sydney, Australia at Fox Studios Australia, under the working title "Steamboat".[9]
Filming wrapped on October 24, 2020. The teaser trailer was released on April 19, 2021.
Music
- Main article: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (soundtrack)
Recording for the film's score, composed by Joel P. West, began at Abbey Road Studios in London in June 2021. The film's score was released digitally by Marvel Music and Hollywood Records on September 1, 2021.
Marvel Music, Hollywood Records, and Interscope Records also released four separate singles ahead of the film's release: "Lazy Susan" by 21 Savage and Rich Brian, "Every Summertime" by Niki, "Run It" by DJ Snake, Rick Ross, and Brian, and "In the Dark" by Swae Lee. A soundtrack album containing these songs was released on September 3, and includes songs by JJ Lin, Saweetie, and Anderson Paak.
Release
The film released in theaters on September 3, 2021.
Home media
- The film released on Disney+ on November 12, 2021
- The film will be released on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and DVD on November 30, 2021.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 312 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings isn't entirely free of Marvel's familiar formula, but this exciting origin story expands the MCU in more ways than one." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Trivia
- This is the first Asian-led Marvel film and the first Disney film released in September (not including the films released by the company under the 20th Century Studios banner).
- This is the second Disney released film in 2021 to be released exclusively in theaters for 45 days instead of simultaneously in theaters and streaming services (like Disney+ with Premier Access or Hulu/Disney+ Star Hub) after Free Guy.
- This film is the first major reappearance of the Ten Rings, since All Hail the King, building on that short's revelation that Aldrich Killian and Trevor Slattery were both impostors stealing the identity of Xu Wenwu (who is still named The Mandarin in the short film).
- Michelle Yeoh previously played Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
- The first teaser poster and trailer for the film were released on Simu Liu's birthday.
- At one point in the film, Shang-Chi and Katy are shown in a karaoke bar singing to "A Whole New World".
- This marks the first MCU film since Captain Marvel to feature a "will return" statement in the end credits.
- This marks the second time since The Incredible Hulk that the character Abomination has appeared in a Marvel Studios film.
- It's unknown how he got out of his S.H.I.E.L.D. cryo-prison; but it's possible he got out when the power failed from lack of personnel, was freed during S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra's conflict after the latter's infiltration within the former was exposed, or during the five-year gap in Endgame to serve as muscle to manage the chaos on Earth.
- This movie marks the return of Trevor Slattery, who was last seen in All Hail the King.
- Meaning he's been imprisoned for over a decade by the Ten Rings; given his last appearance chronological took place in 2012 and he wasn't a victim of the Blip.
- Unlike the comics, where the Mandarin's ten rings are worn on his fingers, they were changed to armbands in the MCU to avoid similarity with the Infinity Gauntlet.
- The letter in the symbol of Ten Rings has been changed from Mongolian to Chinese, after the controversies from Mongolia.
- Given the martial arts theme of the film, this is also a practical change, as it keeps the fingers safe from damage by traditional rings when fists make impacts.
- Unlike the comics, it is implied that the ten rings' powers are shared between them, rather than each one having an individual
- Bruce Banner is not in his Professor Hulk form; instead of being a regular human, with his arm still in a sling. This suggests that he either did so for practical reasons (as a sling in Hulk's size would be hard to maintain) or did so to channel Hulk's healing to his arm (which no longer looks scorched from using the Infinity Stones).
- Captain Marvel apparently keeps telling people to ask others she knows for her number; Bruce states that he doesn't know it, despite her saying he does. It's possible she was referring to the pager she gave Fury; though Natasha was seen having monthly meetings with her in Endgame.
- Wong's love of music is shown again when Shang-Chi and Katy succeed in talking him into karaoke.
- Shang-Chi is told that he is important to the universe. Some fans interpret this as him symbolically being the next "Iron Man", in how Tony Stark was the key to most of the story progress in the MCU.
- Trevor mentions that, as a kid, he used to waych the film Planet of the Apes. The franchise, including the aforementioned film, were acquired by Disney in 2019 during its acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
- Despite the movie having a mostly Chinese cast and crew, and it deals with Chinese culture and society, it was boycotted in China due to the character name issue for the Mandarin (which referred to Fu Manchu), even though Disney changed the name to Xu Wenwu in December 2020 after Tony Leung Chiu-Wai reported the controversies in China.
- This marks the second Chinese-centered live-action Disney movie to receive backlash from China, the first being the 2020 Mulan movie.
- The next MCU film, Eternals, will also be boycotted in China due to the controversies of Chloé Zhao's speech in 2013 (which already caused the cancelation release of Nomadland and banned of 93th Academy Awards official live in China).
- It's never specified in the movie if Katy, Shang-Chi, Xialing, Wenwu/Mandarin, Death Dealer, and Razor Fist were "blipped" or not. Though considering Wenwu didn't take advantage of the chaos on Earth, its highly likely at least one of his children got blipped (since they always wore his necklaces).
- The movie is similar to Raya and the Last Dragon because it also came out in 2021, has Awkwafina in it and Shang-Chi is similar to Chief Benja.
Gallery
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Videos
References
- ↑ "Marvel reveals new details about Shang-Chi movie". Entertainment Weekly (July 20, 2019).
- ↑ Marvel Sets ‘Shang-Chi’ Starring Tony Leung, Awkwafina for 2021 Release
- ↑ Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi: Fala Chen Reportedly Cast in a Key Role
- ↑ Shang-Chi Leaked Images Appear to Confirm the Return of an Iron Man 3 Actor
- ↑ Ronny Chieng Joins ‘Shang Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings’ (EXCLUSIVE)
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gmUCorMXIo&t=3253s&ab_channel=MarvelEntertainment
- ↑ WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE 'THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS' PUNCHES ITS WAY INTO THEATERS
- ↑ "Marvel's Shang-Chi Reportedly Gets a Production Designer". Comic Book (June 11, 2019).
- ↑ EXCLUSIVE: Working Title For Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi’ Confirmed To Be ‘Steamboat’
