Marvel Studios is going to have their name all over the entertainment world over the next three years thanks to 25 new projects on the way for Phase 4. Marvel CCO Kevin Feige announced plans for six new projects on Disney+, officially confirmed a Fantastic Four movie in development, and filled in some of the blanks for the sixteen movies and Disney+ shows already announced at last year's San Diego Comic-Con and D23 convention.
One of the projects that is further along than most in development is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, having completed all principal photography and started on post-production. The martial arts thriller will be unlike anything Marvel Studios has brought to the big screen as Simu Liu punches and kicks his way into the MCU in his debut appearance.
Both this film's plot and cast have largely been kept under wraps up to this point, with most of the focus coming of the news that Shang-Chi will reinvent the Mandarin after some fan controversy from Iron Man 3. Thankfully, Kevin Feige took a chance at the recent Disney Investor Day to expand on this second film in Phase 4 and give the fans something to chew on...
NEWS
The official Marvel website released some updated information on the cast and plot of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which releases in theaters on July 9, 2021.
Along with Simu Liu's title character, Tony Leung's character's name is listed as Wenwu, Awkwafina will play Shang-Chi's friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh will portray Jiang Nan. Additionally, Meng'er Zhang will play Xialing, Ronny Chieng will play Jon Jon, Fala Chen will play Jiang Li, and Florian Munteanu will play Razor Fist.
The listing also teases the "mysterious" plot of the movie centering around the martial arts master with a fresh 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.
WHAT THIS MEANS
It's still quite unknown how big of a role the new supporting cast members will play around Shang-Chi, although the movie's director Destin Daniel Cretton has teased the family vibe serving as important overarching theme with the plot.
The confirmation of Razor Fist is particularly exciting when taking other rumors into account saying that there would be a small team of lower-tier villains for Shang-Chi to fight before he works his way up to the Mandarin. Razor Fist is an incredibly skilled martial artist whose hands were replaced with steel blades, and Munteanu's real life skills as a boxer should come in handy as he takes on this physically demanding role.
As for the plot, this description lines up pretty accurately with rumors from earlier this year teasing that Shang-Chi would have to face some demons from his past as he becomes a fully fledged superhero. Reportedly raised in an orphanage specifically for kids with powers, the Mandarin gives him a chance at money and power after escaping that life. The Ten Rings organization has been teased in the MCU since Iron Man kicked things off in 2008, and fans are looking forward to seeing their story come full circle through the course of Simu Liu's first solo movie.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has completed filming, and it will release in theaters on July 9, 2021.
