Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

[BetterButter]

 

[tv echo]

Apparently Marvel released the teaser trailer early as a birthday present for its star, who turns 32 today (April 19)...

Edited April 19, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Simu Liu suits up in first look at Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
By Devan Coggan Updated April 19, 2021
https://ew.com/movies/shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings-simu-liu-first-look/ 

Quote

The result is Shang-Chi (in theaters Sept. 3), a sweeping superhero epic that combines emotional family drama with gravity-defying martial arts action. Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu stars as the young hero, who spent the first part of his life training to become an assassin under his father's strict tutelage. He's since walked away and tried to build a somewhat normal life in America, only to find himself sucked back into his father's sinister domain.
*  *  *
"The core of Shang-Chi's arc in the comics is really a family drama," says producer Jonathan Schwartz. "That was something that Destin keyed into really early on in our conversations, the idea of taking this broken family and this really dark, even abusive family background and seeing what that does to a child over time."
*  *  *
Bringing Shang-Chi into the MCU also meant updating some of his dated origins. The character's comic backstory has shifted through the years, and Cretton and writer Dave Callaham were eager to dispense with some of the early issues' racially insensitive cliches.
*  *  *
When it came time to cast the charming hero, Marvel launched a global search for an actor of Chinese descent. They found him in the 31-year-old Liu, best known for his role as Jung Kim on the beloved Canadian sitcom Kim's Convenience. The actor had long dreamed of suiting up as a superhero — to the point where he was tweeting at Marvel as early as 2014, hoping to see an Asian-American hero join the franchise. When Shang-Chi was actually announced, he followed up with another tweet: "OK Marvel, are we gonna talk or what?"

"What was definitely not going through my head was, 'Hey, I'm going to tweet Marvel and they're going to get back to me, and I'm going to get this role,'" he says now, laughing. To his surprise, he actually received an invite to audition — and after officially landing the role in July 2019, he was on a plane just a few days later, headed to San Diego to join Cretton at Comic-Con.
*  *  *
When the film starts, Shang-Chi (pronounced like "song," not "sang") is living in San Francisco as a seemingly ordinary twentysomething. He's a bit directionless, and he spends most of his time hanging out with friends, like Awkwafina's Katy. She's one of his closest confidants, but she doesn't know much about his history or why he's no longer in touch with his parents. And she's definitely unfamiliar with the action-packed world of assassins and kung fu masters.

"She doesn't do a lot of the heavy lifting," Awkwafina says. "But at the end of the day, she has a real heart, and she has a loyalty and dedication to her friendship with Shang-Chi. She's super brave."

Shang-Chi's current life may seem average, but his past is anything but: His father Wenwu is a powerful, ancient figure who trained his son to follow in his criminal footsteps. It's been about 10 years since Shang-Chi learned of his dad's misdeeds and walked away. "This is not a 'Luke, I am your father' twist," Feige adds. "He knows who his father is, and he's decided to leave that world behind before he's pulled back into it."

To play the master villain, the filmmakers tapped legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, known for films like Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express. "A character like Wenwu could have easily been a one-dimensional villain with no heart," Cretton says. "Tony opened this character up [so] this is an antagonist who has a deep ability to love." Wenwu and Shang-Chi's onscreen relationship is complicated, but off camera, Leung and Liu became fast friends, bonding over snowboarding. "He's a huge adrenaline junkie," Liu says of his cinematic dad.

Wenwu is a new character, created entirely for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has ties to the Ten Rings, the mysterious terrorist organization first name-dropped in 2008's Iron Man. As Schwartz and Feige put it, Wenwu has "gone by many names" throughout the decades — and one of those titles is "the Mandarin," one of Marvel Comics' most infamous villains. That name previously popped up in 2013's Iron Man 3, only for that version of the character (played by Ben Kingsley) to be revealed as a fraud, an out-of-work actor named Trevor Slattery. Leung's Wenwu is something new — and far more dangerous.
*  *  *
Of course, you can't make a movie about the most skilled fighter in the world without choreographing some pretty elaborate fights. "I think this is the best action [Marvel has] ever done," Schwartz says. "Every punch is meaningful, every fighting style is meaningful, and the story is told visually in such a great way." Because Shang-Chi is a master at several different types of martial arts, Cretton drew inspiration from various sources, from the elegant, almost ethereal wushu style of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the more kinetic choreography of Jackie Chan's action-comedies.  Supervising stunt coordinator Brad Allan was tapped to help unify Shang-Chi's various styles and schools of expertise.
*  *  *
"We wanted to make sure that Shang-Chi was just like any of us," Cretton explains. "I want to watch this movie and say, 'Yes, that's how I feel. I feel out of place sometimes, and I cover it up with humor.' He's a kid who is out of his element and a fish out of water here in the U.S., and he's covering it up with this charisma that I find very relatable."

 

ETA: Cast also includes Michelle Yeoh and Ronny Chieng. (source)

Edited April 19, 2021 by tv echo

[angora]

Thanks for posting that article, @tv echo - I already geeked out over the trailer in the Marvel thread, and now those details from EW have me even more excited. It's so on!

[Morrigan2575]

I watched the trailer again. At first I thought that was a lion (which didn't make sense) but, now I'm thinking a Tibetan Mastiff. 

[tv echo]

The movie's not even out yet and they already have merchandise....

Edited April 21, 2021 by tv echo

[starri]

That's not surprising.  Since they had planned for a February release prior to COVID, they would have had the merch ready to go months and months in advance of that.

[tv echo]

There are 28 products listed at the Marvel.com site, including Funko Pops, action figures, a LEGO set, and weaponry (go to bottom of page and scroll through pic gallery)...

Simu Liu Shares a First Look at New ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ Products
BY RACHEL PAIGE    April 19, 2021
https://www.marvel.com/articles/movies/simu-liu-shang-chi-legend-ten-rings-products

ETA: I've added spoiler tags below in case some of these products are spoilery.

Some of the additional items listed:

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

From San Diego Comic-Con 2019 (in case you missed it then)...

"SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE 10 RINGS" | 2019 Marvel Comic Con (Simi Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung)
Films That Rock   Jul 20, 2019

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by tv echo

[Danny Franks]

Simu Liu seems to be an incredibly cool guy, and it's great that he's getting the chance to headline a movie. But martial arts stuff hasn't interested me since Karate Kid, and I don't know that this movie will change that. There's just nothing about the genre I've ever cared about.

Looking at those Marvel Legends figures confirms to me that there's probably not going to be much that grabs my attention in the movie, although I did snigger a little at "Marvel's Katy." It's not exactly a distinct or heroic name.

I hope the movie is a success, but it's probably going to be a miss for me, like Doctor Strange.

[Trini]

Pretty good for a first/teaser trailer. I would have left off the end part with the bus crash; but I guess they had to let everyone know that Awkwafina is here for comedy.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Trini

[angora]

Interview with Simu Liu.

[tv echo]

Shang-Chi Reshoots Reportedly Beginning in LA Next Week
By RUSS BURLINGAME - April 21, 2021
https://comicbook.com/marvel/news/shang-chi-reshoots-reportedly-beginning-in-la-next-week/

Quote

Marvel will send the cast and crew of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings back for minor reshoots to complete the film next week in Los Angeles. According to a new report at Murphy's Multiverse, the film will have about two weeks of additional photography, wrapping up in early May. This is pretty standard pratice, even if reshoots have gotten a bad reputation in recent years due to unclear coverage from the fan press and the disastrous Justice League reshoots that resulted in a movie almost nobody liked and which ultimately had to be reinvented as a massive, four-hour director's cut.
*  *  *
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently set for release on September 3rd.

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by tv echo

[supposebly]

I keep thinking I know him from somewhere and finally went to imdb. Kim's Convenience!

[Trini]

46 minutes ago, supposebly said:

I keep thinking I know him from somewhere and finally went to imdb. Kim's Convenience!

 

 

[dwmarch]

On 4/21/2021 at 8:59 AM, Danny Franks said:

Looking at those Marvel Legends figures confirms to me that there's probably not going to be much that grabs my attention in the movie

The marketing on the other hand is genius. They sell you one figure with parts for another one in there but not the complete set. So you have to collect all the figures to build the bonus figures. That is comic book villain brilliance right there.

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, dwmarch said:

The marketing on the other hand is genius. They sell you one figure with parts for another one in there but not the complete set. So you have to collect all the figures to build the bonus figures. That is comic book villain brilliance right there.

Yeah, Marvel Legends have always done that, and it is a very clever marketing strategy. Often the "build-a-figure" is one that's much bigger than the standard figures, and would be more expensive if bought on its own. But if you want it you have to spend six times the price anyway.

[tv echo]

Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi,’ ‘The Eternals’ May Face Uphill Battle to Enter China
By Rebecca Davis    May 11, 2021
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/marvel-shang-chi-eternals-china-release-1234971166/ 

[tv echo]

Marvel's Shang-Chi won't hit Disney Plus the same day as theaters
Joan E. Solsman May 13, 2021 
https://www.cnet.com/news/marvels-shang-chi-wont-hit-disney-plus-the-same-day-as-theaters/ 

Quote

Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be released exclusively in theaters for 45 days after its Sept. 3 premiere, rather than hitting cinemas and streaming service Disney Plus at the same time like other Disney big-screen films have during the pandemic, Disney said Thursday. 

Though Disney didn't discuss plans for movie releases after Shang-Chi, the latest announcement makes it virtually certain that Marvel Eternals and other big-budget Disney films will go back to the pre-pandemic practice of releasing new films in cinemas -- and in cinemas only -- for a period of time. However, the 45-day window that Shang-Chi will be a theatrical exclusive is shorter than the norm before the pandemic, when new movies would stay exclusively in cinemas for 75 days or more. 

Disney didn't specify whether Shang-Chi would hit Disney Plus immediately after that 45-day theatrical exclusive; it only reiterated that its theatrical movies would eventually be available on its streaming services, without any further detail. Before the pandemic, Disney's theatrical films would take about five to nine months to reach Disney Plus. 

Disney shortens Shang-Chi, Free Guy theatrical windows to just 45 days
By Kervyn Cloete    May 14, 2021
https://www.criticalhit.net/entertainment/disney-shortens-shang-chi-free-guy-theatrical-windows-to-just-45-days/ 

Quote

You would think that after those releases, things would get back to the way they were – especially, after Disney used a very cool Marvel promo to celebrate a return to watching movies in cinemas just recently. But while upcoming releases Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Free Guy (released through the Disney-owned 20th Century Studios) will both be hitting cinemas, they won’t be staying there for as long as expected as they will just have a 45-day theatrical window, as revealed by Disney CEO Bob Chapek during an investors call yesterday.

Traditionally, theatres have steadfastly held to a 90-day exclusivity period for decades, a window that studios have never been in favour of. Outside of a tiny handful of exceptions, most movies make the bulk of their money in their opening two or three weeks. Studios would then like to shop those movies to other platforms immediately to continue making money, but they’ve never been allowed to. But with the world’s biggest cinema chains hitting dire straits, Universal Pictures became the first studio to shake things up by negotiating a brand new theatrical release strategy, whereby a movie can get shopped around to PVOD streaming services after just 17 days (so in other words, at least three weekends) of theatrical release. However, movies that earn more than $50 million by that point though, stay in cinemas longer, so blockbusters will still get the big-screen treatment they deserve.
*  *  *
And now Disney is following in Paramount’s footsteps with August’s Free Guy and September’s Shang-Chi… but maybe not permanently. Chapek was unwilling to reveal what Disney’s 2022 and beyond release strategy would be. According to the CEO, the day-and-date release of Black Widow, Cruella, and Jungle Cruise to both Disney+ Premier Access anf theatres will allow the studio to “reprime the pumps” of moviegoers who are still hesitant about returning to cinemas.
*  *  *
Chapek went on to say that “we’ll continue to watch the evolution of the recovery of the theatrical marketplace and we’ll use that flexibility to make the right call at the right time”. In other words, the box office performances of those three movies, combined with the numbers of Free Guy and Shang-Chi with their shortened theatrical windows, will then be used to determine Disney’s overall future approach to how the studio will release movies going forward.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Edited June 24, 2021 by tv echo

[angora]

Oh man - less than 2 seconds of Tony Leung Chiu-wai using the Ten Rings and I still screamed. Normally, I don't go out of my way to watch MCU trailers after the first teaser (I like to whet my appetite then save most of the rest for the actual movie,) but with this one, I don't think I can contain myself. 2-and-a-half months to go!

[JessePinkman]

The cut of the trailers and the music reminds me a lot of the BP marketing.

[AimingforYoko]

I imagine Marvel will drop the trailer on YouTube soon, but....Fin Fang Foom confirmed!

ETA:

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by AimingforYoko

[VCRTracking]

Whoa they're bracelets!

[angora]

Hell yeah! Love, love, love the look of the Ten Rings in action. This is such a cool-looking movie, so expansive and colorful. Michelle Yeoh in on the scene! And when Trevor Slattery pretended to be the Mandarin, he had no idea who he was messing with - give me all the Mandarin, all day every day.

Edited June 25, 2021 by angora

[AimingforYoko]

BTW, I had no idea Abomination was going to be in this. How did they keep that under wraps?

[Guest]

It looks amazing. Fin Fang Foom, Abomination and Wong being revealed was unexpected. 

[tennisgurl]

This looks awesome, I love seeing the Ten Rings in action. We are not only getting the Mandarin action, it looks like we are getting Fin Fang Foom (!) and Abomination, which I so did not see coming. This cannot come fast enough.

[Trini]

On 6/24/2021 at 11:03 PM, Dani said:

It looks amazing. Fin Fang Foom, Abomination and Wong being revealed was unexpected. 

Happy for y'all, but who are these characters? Am I, a person who is not familiar with any of these people (including the title character) and the comic, going to have to research before I see this? This looks cool, and I assume it will mostly accessible for newbies; but I hope I'm not going to be lost in some of the mythology.

[Starfish35]

46 minutes ago, Trini said:

Happy for y'all, but who are these characters?

Fin Fang Foom is the dragon-like creature in the water.  Abomination and Wong are in the fighting ring (I had to watch it three times before I figured out that was Wong).  Abomination is from The Incredible Hulk, and Wong is from Dr. Strange (and he also appeared in Infinity War and Endgame).

They may expect us to know Wong at least from prior movies, but I’m sure they will explain Fin Fang Foom for the non-comics audience.  Abomination…. Could go either way.  He could be just a cameo/Easter egg appearance.  

Edited June 27, 2021 by Starfish35

[Trini]

40 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

Wong is from Dr. Strange (and he also appeared in Infinity War and Endgame).

 

Yeah, skipped all those. Please tell me 'Wong' isn't his whole name?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

Am I, a person who is not familiar with any of these people (including the title character) and the comic, going to have to research before I see this? This looks cool, and I assume it will mostly accessible for newbies; but I hope I'm not going to be lost in some of the mythology.

There is no reason to think you would need to do research ahead of time. None of these characters have a preexisting MCU connections with each other. Most likely Wong and Abomination are included to help setup Dr Strange 2 and She-Hulk where they will each appear next.
Plus giving Benedict Wong the opportunity to be in the first Asian lead superhero movie seems fitting since he’s been the only Asian superhero in the movies to this point. 

[tv echo]

The character played by Benedict Wong in the MCU movies has only been identified as "Wong" so far.  I think the character only has one name in the comics.

Edited June 28, 2021 by tv echo

[angora]

1 hour ago, tv echo said:

The character played by Benedict Wong in the MCU movies has only been identified as "Wong" so far.  I think the character only has one name in the comics.

Doctor Strange riffs about that in his movie, pestering Wong about other one-named folks like Madonna and Beyonce.

I agree that viewers probably won't need to know who Wong or the Abomination are. This is Shang-Chi's first appearance in the MCU, so he wouldn't know those guys. If either is appearing in anything more than a cameo, I imagine we'll get a quick "here's what you need to know" thumbnail on them.

[Raja]

Maybe Wong went to some dark places before the blip?

[tv echo]

Simu Liu is hitting new heights with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Phil Yu    July 6, 2021
https://ew.com/movies/simu-liu-cover-shang-chi-legend-ten-rings/ 

Quote

Simu Liu remembers every detail about the phone call that changed his destiny two years ago. The actor was coming off a grueling day on the Toronto set of the hit CBC sitcom Kim's Convenience, where he'd gotten into an argument over one of his lines — a play on words on his character's name: "Egg Foo Jung." Liu had refused to say the line as written. And the disagreement ended up halting production for nearly an hour. "I didn't want audiences to see this character playing into that joke," the 32-year-old actor recalls during our conversation in a conference room on the Walt Disney Studios lot in late May. "It was terrifying. I was on the verge of tears. It was actually a really, really rough day."

Back in his apartment, Liu was sitting around in his underwear and eating shrimp crackers when he got the call from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, director Destin Daniel Cretton, and casting director Sarah Finn. They were inviting him to become a part of the biggest megafranchise in movie history. They wanted him to be Shang-Chi, Marvel's first Asian leading superhero. Four days later, Liu was in the fabled Hall H during 2019's San Diego Comic-Con, announcing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (out Sept. 3) and posing for a group photo alongside the stars of Marvel Studios' Phase 4 — Angelina! Scarlett! One of the Chrises! "I found myself on stage with some of the most famous people in the world, wearing my $20 Zara sweater and skinny jeans," Liu says, still seemingly shell-shocked. "It was insane."
*  *  *
For Liu's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel kept the name and the conceit, but reinvented everything else. Cretton — the Hawaiian-born, Japanese American director of 2013's indie sensation Short Term 12 and 2019's Just Mercy — and Chinese American screenwriter David Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984) revised some of the more problematic, Yellow Peril-adjacent origins of the '70s source material. In their version, Shang-Chi is the son of Wenwu (played by legendary Hong Kong actor Tony Leung), who has ties to the mysterious Ten Rings organization. (Marvel faithful will recognize the Ten Rings as the organization responsible for Tony Stark's abduction at the start of Iron Man.) Years after abandoning his father's criminal enterprise and living a relatively normal existence in San Francisco with friends, including best pal Katy (played by Awkwafina), Shang-Chi is drawn back into the family business. Mayhem ensues.
*  *  *
Liu, who grew up in the Toronto suburbs and is the only child of aerospace engineers, understands this as well as anyone. And he recognizes the potential pitfalls of playing a kung fu fighting superhero who will be seen by millions.

"There are two paradigms that are completely at odds with each other," he says. "One being, as a progressive Asian American man, I've always wanted to shatter barriers and expectations of what Asian men are and be very aware of the boxes that we're put into — martial artists, sidekicks, exotic, or Orientalist. And then the other paradigm is, like, kung fu is objectively super f---ing cool. There is a reason why kung fu caught fire and the world became obsessed with it, because it's incredible to watch." In Shang-Chi, Liu sees an opportunity "to reclaim that s---": "There was a time [as an Asian actor], I didn't want anybody to see me doing martial arts... but I grew up watching Jet Li and Jackie Chan, and I remember the immense amount of pride that I felt watching them kick ass. I think Shang-Chi can absolutely be that for Asian Americans. It means that kids growing up today will have what we never did — the ability to watch the screen and to really feel seen."
*  *  *
He [Callaham] and Cretton certainly felt the weight of expectations while building Shang-Chi's world. "There's no single Asian American voice. So how do we create something that speaks to the wider Asian diaspora? How do we make something that will be exciting and entertaining, but also personal to all these people? What [Destin and I] landed on was the very simple reality of just putting this character on screen, at the level that Marvel does. Because when we turned on our televisions, neither of us were seeing Asian people. And we were excited to be able to change that."

 

Edited July 7, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Shang-Chi comments from Part 2 of Rotten Tomatoes interview with Kevin Feige...

Kevin Feige on MCU’s Phase 4 – Part 2: Shang-Chi, Eternals, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever & More
Rotten Tomatoes   Jul 12, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZZ_PWwbjb4

-- Kevin Feige: "Shang-Chi, as I'd said, is a movie that, I think, first ended up on a list of 'wouldn't-it-be-great-if ' list, uh, wouldn't it be great if we could do this as a movie, probably 20 years ago, because it's a great story of a, uh, of a young man that - that realizes his father is, um, is essentially one of the world's greatest, um, supervillains, one of the world's greatest criminals. And how do you process that and how do you deal with that as a child? And how do you evolve beyond that? And the heroism needed to, uh, to break free of that and grow beyond that. And, even in our film, to - to realize that there are many sides to all stories, and the world's perception of his father and his perception of his father, um, is more complex than perhaps he initially - he initially thought. That was a great driving story for us that we wanted to - to explore someday. Looking for a filmmaker to - to do it, um, was obviously, as it always is important, and Destin Cretton coming in and, again, dedicating his talents - he's an amazing filmmaker who does amazing movies that have been, um, on the smaller budgeted size compared to a big Marvel movie - but coming in and giving his personal vision to this story of this father and son, and really this family, was very special. And then how we could find somebody to play Shang-Chi was his biggest question when he signed up as, uh, as director. Our producer Jonathan Schwartz and, uh, casting director Sarah Finn looked at hundreds of people, and Simu [Liu] came up relatively late in the process, when you just start to get to that point of maybe it's not going to happen. Because what you want it everybody in your inner circle - the producers, the filmmakers - to see somebody and go - look at each other and go, we found this person, this is the one. We hadn't had that on Shang-Chi, uh, at this point. And Simu came in and Sarah Finn had seen him before and brought him in again and he did great. He did a great reading with Destin. He then did a great chemistry read with, uh, with Awkwafina, who's gracious enough to do that. And, I will say, he - you know, a little bit was, who is this fellow? Let's look him up. That's what you do nowadays. You look up, who is this guy? And he did have... an infectious personality online, in the way he interacted with the world and with fandom of his show that he was doing in Canada at the time - and with a sports team that he was a fan of that was doing well, when I happened to search him. So he's kind of the real deal. And, uh, bringing a new Marvel hero into the fold is never easy and always there's a lot of pressure on us and, I'm sure, on the actors. But Simu has, uh, has pulled it off in ways that, again, I'm very excited for audiences to finally, uh, see in September."

-- Kevin Feige: "Well, that's what's fun about the MCU at this stage is we can do something like Shang-Chi, introducing a brand new hero into the MCU and into the - into the world at large. But that subtitle, 'and the Legend of the Ten Rings,' actually connects it back to the very beginning of the MCU, the Ten Rings being the organization that kidnapped Tony Stark at the very beginning of Iron Man 1, and that organization was inspired by a character called the Mandarin in the comics. And going back to Iron Man 1, we've been talking about when do we - when do we bring this character to the screen? And we only wanted to do it when we felt we could do it supreme justice and really - and really showcase, uh, the complexity of this character, which, frankly, we couldn't do in an Iron Man movie because an Iron Man movie is about Iron Man. An Iron Man movie is about Tony Stark. So Shane Black, in his film and his script that he co-wrote, came up with this fun twist that we love to this day, and it turned out to be Trevor Slattery. Just because that version wasn't real didn't mean there's not a leader of the Ten Rings organization. And that is who we meet for the first time in Shang-Chi. And - and, again, talking about actors making - making these characters come to life, Tony Leung playing Shang-Chi's father and the leader of the Ten Rings is another pinch-yourself-dream-come-true moment, because he's one of the best actors of our time and very excited to, I hope, a whole new fan base, uh, who might not be aware of his spectacular work that he's done."

-- Kevin Feige: "We just recently released that final trailer for Shang-Chi, the end of which had a character that looked very - some fans said, this looks like a character they hadn't seen in many years named the Abomination fighting a character that looks like Wong. And I can say, um, that the reason it looks like that is because that is Abomination fighting Wong, yes... Again, a fun thing to have a character that - that we haven't had on screen in over a decade, um, show up, uh, again in the MCU. And to see fans in that little tag of the trailer, um, recognize that and embrace that, uh, is great fun."

Edited July 13, 2021 by tv echo

[angora]

13 hours ago, tv echo said:

And, I will say, he - you know, a little bit was, who is this fellow? Let's look him up. That's what you do nowadays. You look up, who is this guy? And he did have... an infectious personality online, in the way he interacted with the world and with fandom of his show that he was doing in Canada at the time - and with a sports team that he was a fan of that was doing well, when I happened to search him. So he's kind of the real deal.

Hehe, so if Marvel didn't know who Simu was before his audition, I guess they didn't realize he'd been trying to tweet this role into existence over the years (which he of course called back to after he got the part.)

14 hours ago, tv echo said:

Just because that version wasn't real didn't mean there's not a leader of the Ten Rings organization. And that is who we meet for the first time in Shang-Chi. And - and, again, talking about actors making - making these characters come to life, Tony Leung playing Shang-Chi's father and the leader of the Ten Rings is another pinch-yourself-dream-come-true moment, because he's one of the best actors of our time and very excited to, I hope, a whole new fan base, uh, who might not be aware of his spectacular work that he's done."

I'm always here for Marvel folks praising Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Can't wait to see him onscreen!

[StatisticalOutlier]

Quote

And - and, again, talking about actors making - making these characters come to life, Tony Leung playing Shang-Chi's father and the leader of the Ten Rings is another pinch-yourself-dream-come-true moment, because he's one of the best actors of our time and very excited to, I hope, a whole new fan base, uh, who might not be aware of his spectacular work that he's done.

And vice versa.  I'm so out of the loop that I had to look up what "MCU" stands for, but I've been a Tony Leung fan for almost 30 years.  Looks like this old lady's going to be going to her first Marvel movie!

Edited July 21, 2021 by StatisticalOutlier

[tv echo]

BENEDICT WONG SAYS JOINING CAST OF MARVEL'S SHANG-CHI IS 'TO BE SAT AT A TABLE OF ASIAN EXCELLENCE'
Tara Bennett   July 19, 2021
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/benedict-wong-shang-chi-asian-excellence

Quote

"When Shang-Chi was happening, I was so pleased that it was happening but I was a little kind of crestfallen I wasn't a part of it," Wong shared. "And then the call [from Marvel Studios] came. And I was like, 'Yes!'"
*  *  *
"You know, I'm super thrilled," Wong said. "And then to be sat at a table of Asian excellence, it was amazing. And I'm a big fan of all of those artists. Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love) is a massive idol of mine. So it's been constant surprises, that's what [the role of Wong] gives me."

'Shang-Chi' Star Benedict Wong Says "Asians Assemble" in Marvel Movie; Also Teases 'Doctor Strange 2'
Jeff Sneider   July 22, 2021
https://collider.com/shang-chi-benedict-wong-asians-assemble-doctor-strange-2-improv/ 

Quote

Up first is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, in which Wong will reprise his role from 2016's Doctor Strange. Shang-Chi features the first real Asian superhero lead in Simu Liu's titular kung fu master, and as such, the movie means that much more to millions of Asian moviegoers around the world, much like how Black Panther resonated strongly with Black audiences.

"It's the Asians Assemble," Wong told Collider, referencing Captain America's famous "Avengers! Assemble!" line from Avengers: Endgame. "To have Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Ronny Chieng, Meng'er [Zhang], and Fala Chen, it feels very, very exciting. I've seen the trailer many, many times, and I'm very excited," enthused Wong, who is British, though his parents are from Hong Kong.
*  *  *
Shang-Chi is slated to hit theaters on Sept. 3, while the Doctor Strange sequel is due March 25, 2022, but if you just can't wait until the fall for a fix of Wong, be sure and check out Nine Days, which opens in New York and Los Angeles on July 30 before expanding nationwide throughout August.

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Edited July 25, 2021 by tv echo

[angora]

New trailer - I continue to be obsessed with how the Ten Rings look in action. So. Damn. Cool!

 

[angora]

Short featurette. The action in this movie looks like it's gonna be so amazing!

ETA - new poster too! Love Wenwu looming over Shang-Chi at the top. Looks so cool!

Edited July 30, 2021 by angora
added the poster too

[benteen]

That's a good poster but I miss the days when they did actual art work for them.  I always felt that X-Men Days of Future Past really missed the boat on this by not doing a poster that resembled the cover of Uncanny X-Men #141, the comuc the movie was based on.

[tv echo]

Empire’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings Covers Revealed
By Ben Travis  July 30, 2021
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/empire-shang-chi-legend-ten-rings-covers-revealed/ 

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It marks a major breakthrough for star Simu Liu, who you’ll find on the cover of Empire’s brand new issue in his full Shang-Chi regalia, standing alongside Awkwafina’s Katy, and Meng’er Zhang’s Xialing. And in our epic cover feature you’ll find brand new interviews with all three of them, as well as director Destin Daniel Cretton and Marvel boss Kevin Feige, illuminating the character’s long journey to the screen, the importance and responsibility of providing much-needed East Asian representation in the MCU, and exploring how Liu seemingly manifested his own Marvel destiny. All that, and we have brand new exclusive images and insights into a superhero adventure unlike any other.

 

[tv echo]

Advance screening of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at CinemaCon...

CinemaCon, August 23-26, 2021 (Las Vegas, NV)
https://cinemacon.com/schedule#horizontalTab4

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WEDNESDAY, 25 AUGUST
*  *  *
9:30 AM - 11:45 AM
...
THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS INVITES YOU TO A SCREENING OF MARVEL STUDIOS’ “SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS”
...
(The use of cameras or any electronic devices – audio or video – is strictly prohibited. Please completely power down your mobile devices before the start of the presentation.)

 

Shang-Chi Portrays ‘The Asian-American Experience Through The Eyes Of A Superhero’ – Exclusive Images
By Ben Travis   August 2, 2021
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/shang-chi-asian-american-experience-superhero-exclusive/ 

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For director Destin Daniel Cretton – the filmmaker lauded for intimate character dramas like Short Term 12 and Just Mercy – taking the film on was a vital chance to portray Asian-American identity on the biggest stage possible. “I grew up with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and Jet Li,” he tells Empire in the new Shang-Chi issue. “But I haven’t seen a hero on screen that really walks and talks like me, dresses like me, listens to the music that me and my friends listen to; somebody truly Asian-American. And that was what was really exciting to me, to create something that just shows the Asian-American experience through the eyes of a budding superhero.”
*  *  *
Marvel boss Kevin Feige tells Empire that Shang-Chi was on the studio’s radar as a potential big-screen hero long before Black Panther broke ground as a major Black superhero movie (with box office-shattering results). What that film’s reception did solidify, though, was the other representation the MCU had been missing until that point. “I remember seeing a viral video when the Black Panther poster first came out,” recalls Feige. “It was some young men in a movie theatre overwhelmed with excitement at seeing the poster, and it was moving because people were excited about the movie we were making. But it was also a harsh realisation that they were reacting that way because they had not seen it before. So Panther really coalesced the notion of, ‘Everybody deserves to see themselves portrayed in these larger-than-life ways.’” Mythical battles? Super-powered arena brawls? Underwater dragons? Let Marvel’s larger-than-life Asian-American adventure begin.

 

Shang-Chi: Tony Leung’s Wenwu Is ‘Not The Mandarin In The Way People Are Expecting’ – Exclusive
By Ben Travis   August 3, 2021
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/shang-chi-tony-leung-wenwu-mandarin-expecting-exclusive/

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And yet, while Marvel is doing The Mandarin for real this time, there may be more here than meets the eye too. “Our version of the character is not The Mandarin in the way that people are expecting him to be,” Shang-Chi co-writer Dave Callaham teases in Empire’s cover feature. “‘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.”

The relationship – and tension – between Wenwu and Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi is set to be a central thread of the film, a key element that drew director Destin Daniel Cretton to the project. But bringing The Mandarin to the screen also came with a responsibility not to perpetuate racist archetypes that have endured through decades of popular culture. “It was for me the part of the Shang-Chi comics that I personally really connected to,” says Cretton. “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.”
*  *  *
One way of helping make sure The Mandarin emerges as a fully fleshed-out character? Cast the legendary Tony Leung – veteran of Wong Kar Wai and John Woo movies – in a rare Hollywood role. “He’s Brad Pitt, Clooney, De Niro, all roles up into one,” laughs Liu. “He Ocean’s One! He came up to me and shook my hand with both of his, and I just about died in that moment.”

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by tv echo

[tv echo]

Brand-New Character Posters Arrive for ‘Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings’
BY RACHEL PAIGE    August 5, 2021
https://www.marvel.com/articles/movies/shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings-character-posters

 

[angora]

Nice - I really like the one for Shang-Chi. Michelle Yeoh’s looks good too.

[tv echo]

Will ‘Shang-Chi’ Premiere Simultaneously On Disney+ and In Theaters?
Posted on August 5, 2021 by Krysten Swensen
https://insidethemagic.net/2021/08/kevin-feige-shang-chi-theatrical-release-ks1/ 

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Marvel President Kevin Feige is reportedly livid with Disney over the lawsuit, as he was against releasing Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+ on the same day, to begin with. It is because of his dislike of a simultaneous release, the lawsuit, and the fallout from it, that Feige is reportedly putting his foot down when it comes to how Disney will release Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings. 

Disney is rumored to be considering another simultaneous release for Shang-Chi, but Feige is unwilling to compromise on the theatrical release that was originally planned. If Disney does decide to go forward with a simultaneous Disney+ and theatrical release, Feige may force them to renegotiate the contracts of all the major Shang-Chi actors, which could backfire when it comes to their Johansson lawsuit, since the starlet was not given the same courtesy.

Rise | Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 5, 2021

Most Likely To Featurette | Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Marvel Entertainment   Aug 5, 2021

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by tv echo

[Raja]

20 hours ago, angora said:

Nice - I really like the one for Shang-Chi. Michelle Yeoh’s looks good too.

However the Awkwafina poster seems way out of the character that they are showing us in the trailers