Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is bringing some proper martial arts to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Iron Fist did not count). Also, the actual Mandarin.
Part of Phase Four of the MCU (which kicked off with WandaVision and includes upcoming films like Eternals, Spiderman: No Way Home, and Thor: Love and Thunder), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows martial arts master Shang-Chi, played by Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience), trained from infancy to be an assassin for the Ten Rings organisation, just trying to live a normal life when the past intervenes.
The Ten Rings terrorist group has been pitching up in Marvel movies, in various guises, since 2008’s Iron Man when they kidnapped Tony Stark and started this whole thing. Their leader is Marvel big-bad, and legendary sorcerer, the Mandarin, previously impersonated by Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) in Iron Man 3. In Shang-Chi, we finally get to see (SPOILER ALERT?) the really-real Mandarin, played by Tony Leung (The Grandmaster).
The rest of the cast includes Awkwafina (Jumanji: Next Level), Fala Cheng (The Undoing), Ronny Chieng (Godzilla vs. Kong), and Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery).
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is coming to cinemas on 3 September.