‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’: Watch the teaser now

Marvel has just released its trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, kicking off its newest phase of movies as well as its return to purely theatrical releases. 

Shang-Chi is Marvel’s principal martial arts master, the trailer showcasing his high flying skills as well as bringing the classic “hero avoids destiny only to embrace it” narrative back to life.  

But what can we expect from the film? How will this keep Phase 4 of the MCU going? We fought our way through the internet and found answers about just what to expect from this action filled flick. Get into your battle stance and dive into what we know so far about ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’. 

Not the first MCU martial artist 

While Shang-Chi is Marvel’s most prominent martial artist, he is not the first to get his own live action adaptation. That honor goes to Netflix’s Iron Fist, which was a part of the larger The Defenders franchise. 

Unfortunately, the show suffered from quite a few issues, including the fact that the show hinged on an outdated white savior narrative, which only frustrated fans and dropped the ratings of the show faster than any enemy getting dropped kicked by the leading man. 

Luckily, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings seems to be avoiding that issue as well as others that Iron Fist had, with a fantastic, diverse cast (including Aquafina, who is definitely bringing the humor to the film already) as well as fun fight scenes that’ll keep fans on the edge of their seats the whole time. 

Return of The Mandarin 

Many Marvel fans probably remember the name ‘The Mandarin” from the first & third Iron Man films, the third being more widely remembered as a simple puppet for Aldrich Killian, the real mad man behind the curtain. 

However, the trailer promises to show us the actual Mandarin as well as the Ten Rings organization in its entirety, as they are the central antagonists of the film. The film also seems to blend this central conflict with ideas from the most recent Shang-Chi series of comics, as we see the main character trying to live his life in San Francisco before the Ten Rings organization as well as family drama crashes back into his life. 

Marvel always loves to push the envelope with their films, however, so the comic will not be the only inspiration for the film, allowing us to enjoy a story with familiar elements but with new twists to help take this story to new heights. 

Back to the theaters

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to drop on September 3rd, 2021 (which is too far away to us!) Unlike other Marvel films, however, it will only exclusively drop in theaters without a concurrent Disney+ release. 

Though other films that are coming up sooner, such as Black Widow, are having this concurrent release, this film’s release seems to be hinged on the hope that enough people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and enough theaters have reopened their doors to larger groups by the time the film drops. 

Hopefully that will be the case since this film marks the continuation of Phase 4 of the MCU and will mark the return to strictly theatrical releases for other franchises. We can only be ready to sprint to the box office (and hope to avoid any assassins) on September 3rd to catch this amazing new installment of the MCU. 

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Are you excited for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? Tell us in the comments to keep us battle ready!