The highly-anticipated arrival of Shang-Chi is here and the hype lives on as the first trailer of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released. With snippets of what to expect in the upcoming film, we also get to see who the good guys are, and the villains that he would be facing, and who might they be.
Who Is The Villain of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings?
Shang-Chi Villain: Wenwu/ The Mandarin
Teased since Iron Man 3, the real Mandarin is here and it seems that Marvel has retconned the comic book origins of the character. In the comics, The Mandarin has a different persona than that of Fu Manchu, the comic book father of Shang-Chi who he has a dreadful relationship as he grew up being trained to be a deadly assassin for his father.
For the MCU, however, it is shown to be the character played by Tony Leung, cast as both Wenwu and The Mandarin to take both villains against Shang-Chi. For various reasons including the racist history of the character and with Marvel losing rights over the use of the character from way back in 1983, the MCU arrives with Wenwu, a replacement for Fu Manchu.
With this, it could be expected that a father-and-son rivalry is in the works in the film. Though there are comic book parallels, it would surely be interesting to see how the MCU will be merging two villains into one person bringing more depth and more emotions to the character itself.
Shang-Chi Villain: Death Dealer
The Death Dealer, also shown in the trailer, wears a mask and to date, its casting is yet to be revealed. Basing on Marvel Comics, Li Ching-Lin is the Death Dealer, a former MI6 agent. In the film, however, the Death Dealer is a double agent for Wenwu and a warrior protecting the Ten Rings. The character is seen to train Shang-Chi alongside his father making him a human killing machine with a mastery of martial arts.
Shang-Chi Villain: Razor Fist
In the trailer, the already iconic bus scene features Razor Fist in combat with Shang-Chi. The comic book origin of the character is somewhat complicated as there are various holders of the moniker with William Young, originally bearing the name, he is an assassin and a mercenary. Other versions of the character belong to brothers Douglas and William Scott pretending as one person in the name of Razor Fist.
To be portrayed by Florian Munteanu, it seems that MCU is looking to adopt the William Young version of the character.
With these villains going up against Shang-Chi, his introduction into the MCU would surely be no easy feat given he has to face three villains along the way. With an almost all-Asian ensemble, Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings star Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tony Leung as Wenwu/The Mandarin, Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan, Fala Chen as Jiang Li, Awkwafina as Katy, Meng'er Zhang as Xialing, and Florian Munteanu as Razor Fist.
Catch these villains in their MCU debut in Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings premiering on September 3, 2021 in theaters and possibly in Disney Plus Premier Access as well.
Related: Is Shang-Chi Iron Fist Explained
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