A new Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings trailer is out and it opens more to what the story will be about but in one particular part of it, we see a dragon with our titular hero underwater and that made everyone guess who that entity is considering that the film will be introducing creatures like the Imperial guardian lions as seen in both teasers.
Who is the Dragon in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings?
In the recently released trailer, at around the 1:36 mark, we see Shang-Chi submerged in water as he meets what seems to be a dragon and this hyped-up fans because, clearly, dragons in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? That's amazing! We have two candidates as to who the dragon might be, either it is Fin Fang Foom or The Great Protector.
Now, those two dragons are on different sides of the coin: one helps Shang-Chi fight his father, this one has no Marvel comic book counterpart though, and the other is Fin Fang Foom, a villain from the comics also known as "He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains and Whose Back Scrapes the Sun," which is a really long name to have, actually.
The dragon in the trailer seems to be benevolent rather than destructive. Also, it has been leaked that the dragon is named "The Great Protector" by a Funko Super Pop! Marvel: Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. It seems that we'll be having a good dragon this time rather than a bad one. Even Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu said in an NBC News feature that Fin Fang Foom will not be in the film so it boils down to this one.
Still, this dragon might share the same backstory as that of Fin Fang Foom from the comics. He made his debut in Strange Tales #89 in 1961 where he is a slumbering dragon that Chan Liuchow searches for to stop the communist tyranny. He was led to the Chinese army and when they were taken down, Chan takes him back to his lair and to his sleep.
He was woken up by The Mandarin in Iron Man #1961 and he was the star of The Dragon Seed Saga wherein the Mandarin uses him to regain his dynasty and power. In this comic, it turns out that it was a Space Dragon hiding in disguise and that there were other eight dragons hiding in the planet who was in disguise as humans, trying to take over the Earth to rule upon.
If this would be the direction where Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings would be going, then it is possible that this "Great Protector" may have some similarities with Fin Fang Foom, and possibly help out Shang-Chi because they have the same enemy: The Mandarin.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set for a theatrical release on September 3, 2021.
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