In anticipation of the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel has dropped its one-shot about the Mandarin, "All Hail the King," on Disney+. Simu Liu will make his MCU debut in this story about a man with a secret identity as a kung fu master. Shang-Chi, the second film in phase 4 of the MCU, is set to be released this weekend, on September 3.
The film's conflict will be largely based around Shang-Chi's father Wenwu (Tony Leung), who is also known as the Mandarin, attempting to lure him back into the Ten Rings organization. This might seem odd to fans of Iron Man 3 who recall that Ben Kingsley played a character called The Mandarin in that film (to further the point, Ben Kingsley was seen attending the Shang-Chi premiere). It was revealed later in the film that the villain is merely the actor Trevor Slattery, who was pretending to be the Mandarin. However, the powers that be at Marvel are clearly aware of this potential confusion.
Presumably to clear up some of those loose ends, Marvel has re-released the one-shot video All Hail the King for subscribers to stream on Disney+. The 13-minute video, which originally appeared in 2014 as a bonus on the home video release of Thor: The Dark World, tells the story of documentary filmmaker Jackson Norris (Scoot McNairy) interviewing Trevor Slattery from prison. Slattery may not be the actual Mandarin, but he is now a celebrity villain in his own right and has let the fame go to his head.
Written and directed by Drew Pearce (who co-wrote the screenplay for Iron Man 3 with Shane Black), the one-shot also stars Lester Speight and features a surprise cameo from another Iron Man performer. It's a purely comic short that plays like a sketch from SNL, so it doesn't quite match the tone that the Shang-Chi trailer implies the film will have, but it's still a delightful appetizer for voracious fans.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has certainly presented Marvel with the most interesting challenges toward MCU continuity yet. In addition to the films doubling up on the Mandarin, the Ten Rings organization was also featured in the original Iron Man, which was created before the MCU became the massive pop culture franchise it is today. It will be interesting if they maintain exact continuity with the Iron Man trilogy or if they'll have to drop a line or two justifying a new version of the Ten Rings. The good news is, fans won't have long to wait before they can find out.
Source: Disney+
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