“Shang-Chi” Posters & Mandarin Talk

By
Garth Franklin
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Shang Chi Posters Mandarin Talk
Marvel

Marvel Studios’ upcoming “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has one element that will get fans talking however they handle it – The Mandarin.

The film sees Tony Leung step into the role of the villain Wenwu, the leader of the Ten Rings organisation and father of the film’s titular hero (played by Simu Liu). The character is also inspired by legendary Marvel Comics villain The Mandarin.

This of course marks the second MCU screen interpretation of The Mandarin following a joke reveal involving a British actor (played by Ben Kingsley) in “Iron Man 3” nearly a decade ago. Some fans still haven’t forgiven Marvel for that and are expecting a decidedly more comics accurate version this time.

Will they get it? Not necessarily as Leung’s version of the character will be quite different than what many fans are likely expecting says co-writer David Callaham whilst speaking with Empire:

“Our version of the character is not The Mandarin in the way that people are expecting him to be. ‘The Mandarin’ is a title that has been applied to him in the past by people that don’t understand his culture. But he’s a much deeper character than I think a lot of people would expect.”

David Callaham says he felt a responsibility to adapt The Mandarin in a way that didn’t draw on the racist archetypes utilized for him in early appearances:

“It was for me the part of the Shang-Chi comics that I personally really connected to. It was really important for us to find the root of that anger and that pain. That was the goal from the get-go, and probably the number one fear of all of us was creating a Mandarin that was further contributing to the ‘Yellow Peril’ type of stereotypes that are still flying around.”

In addition to the comments, Marvel has also released a series of character one-sheets for the film which you can see below. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” arrives exclusively in theaters on September 3rd.