The New Legend Of Shaolin Trailer

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Tabita Knezevic

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:44:45 PM8/3/24

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"This is kung fu. It's not a game. It is not a religion. It's about who lives, and who dies." Wow - martial arts fans need to take a look at this. The first full 3-minute promo trailer has debuted for a film called Birth of the Dragon, a fictional feature based on the true story of the legendary Bruce Lee. Directed by the guy who made The Adjustment Bureau, the film stars Philip Ng as a cocky, young Bruce Lee living in San Francisco training and teaching his kung fu skills to others. He is confronted by a legendary Shaolin monk named Wong Jack Man, played by Yu Xia, who is upset that he is sullying the art and spirituality of kung fu. This trailer pretty much goes through most of the story, including the token white dude who is a part of the story, played by Billy Magnussen. This looks like it has some fairly kick ass fights and will be inspiring to watch.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton from a screenplay he wrote with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham, and stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi alongside Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Yuen Wah, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, and Tony Leung. In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past when his father Wenwu (Leung), the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization, draws Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing (Zhang) into a search for a mythical village.

A film based on Shang-Chi entered development in 2001, but work did not begin in earnest until December 2018 when Callaham was hired. Cretton joined in March 2019 and the film's title and primary cast were announced that July. This revealed the film's connection to the Ten Rings organization, which previously appeared throughout the MCU, and its leader Wenwu who was adapted from the problematic comic book characters Fu Manchu and the Mandarin. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first Marvel Studios film with an Asian director and a predominantly Asian cast. Filming began in Sydney in February 2020 but was put on hold in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in August and ended in October, with additional filming in San Francisco. Brad Allan and other members of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team coordinated the fight sequences.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premiered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on August 16, 2021, and was released in the United States on September 3 as part of Phase Four of the MCU. It grossed over $432 million worldwide, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2021. It set several box office records and received positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the exploration and representation of Asian culture which differentiated the film from the rest of the MCU, as well as the action sequences and Leung's performance. The film received various accolades, including a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 94th Academy Awards. A sequel is in development.

A thousand years ago, Xu Wenwu discovers the mystical ten rings which grant godly powers including immortality. He establishes the Ten Rings organization, conquering kingdoms and toppling governments throughout history. In 1996, Wenwu searches for Ta Lo, a village said to harbor mythical beasts. He travels through a magical forest to the village entrance but is stopped by a guardian, Ying Li. The two soon fall in love, but the Ta Lo villagers reject Wenwu so Li chooses to leave with him. They marry and have two children, Shang-Chi and Xialing. Wenwu abandons his organization and locks away the ten rings.

When Shang-Chi is seven years old, Li is murdered by Wenwu's enemies, the Iron Gang. Wenwu dons the rings once again, massacres the Iron Gang, and resumes leadership of his organization. He makes Shang-Chi undergo brutal training in martial arts but does not allow Xialing to train, prompting her to secretly teach herself. When Shang-Chi is 14, Wenwu sends him to assassinate the Iron Gang's leader. After completing his mission, a traumatized Shang-Chi runs away to San Francisco and adopts the name "Shaun".

In the present day, Shang-Chi works as a parking valet with his best friend Katy. They are attacked on a bus by the Ten Rings organization who steal a pendant that Li gave to Shang-Chi. Shang-Chi travels to Macau to find Xialing, fearing that the Ten Rings will go after her matching pendant. He reveals his past to Katy who insists on helping him. They find Xialing at a secret fight club which she founded after escaping from Wenwu at 16. The Ten Rings attack the fight club and Wenwu arrives to capture Shang-Chi, Katy, Xialing, and her pendant.

At the Ten Rings' compound, Wenwu uses the pendants to reveal a mystical map leading to Ta Lo. Wenwu explains that he has heard Li calling and believes she has been held captive in Ta Lo behind a sealed gate. He plans to destroy the village unless they release her. When his children and Katy object, he imprisons them. They meet former actor Trevor Slattery, whom the Ten Rings imprisoned for impersonating Wenwu,[a] and his hundun companion Morris. They escape and Morris guides them to Ta Lo, which exists in a separate dimension with various Chinese mythological creatures.

The group meet Li's sister Ying Nan who explains the history of Ta Lo: thousands of years ago, the village's universe was attacked by the soul-consuming Dweller-in-Darkness and its soul eaters, but was saved by a Chinese dragon called the Great Protector who helped seal the Dark Gate to the Dweller's world. According to Nan, the Dweller-in-Darkness has been impersonating Li so Wenwu will use the ten rings to open the Gate. Shang-Chi, Xialing, Katy, Slattery, and Morris join the villagers in training and preparing for Wenwu's arrival, using outfits and weapons crafted from dragon scales that are effective against the soul eaters.

Wenwu and the Ten Rings arrive and attack. Wenwu overpowers Shang-Chi, pushes him into the nearby lake, and attacks the Gate with the rings. This allows some of the Dweller's soul eaters to escape, with the Ten Rings allying with the villagers to effectively fight them. The Great Protector revives Shang-Chi and bears him from the lake to battle the soul eaters. Wenwu and Shang-Chi fight once more, and Shang-Chi gains the upper hand but chooses to spare Wenwu. The Dweller-in-Darkness escapes from the weakened Gate and attacks Shang-Chi. Wenwu saves Shang-Chi but is killed by the Dweller-in-Darkness; he bequeaths the rings to Shang-Chi before he dies. Shang-Chi, the Great Protector, Xialing, and Katy slay the Dweller-in-Darkness. Afterward, Shang-Chi and Katy return to San Francisco where the sorcerer Wong summons them to Kamar-Taj.

In a mid-credits scene, Wong introduces Shang-Chi and Katy to Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers and the group discusses the origins of the rings. They discover that the rings are acting as a beacon to something. In a post-credits scene, Xialing becomes the new leader of the Ten Rings, despite telling Shang-Chi that she would disband the organization, and begins training women alongside men.

Also appearing in the film are Ronny Chieng as Jon Jon, Xialing's right-hand man and announcer at her underground fighting club; Jodi Long as Mrs. Chen, Katy's mother; Dallas Liu as Ruihua, Katy's brother; Paul He as Chancellor Hui; Tsai Chin as Katy's grandmother;[17] Andy Le as Death Dealer, one of Wenwu's assassins who trained Shang-Chi in his youth;[37] Stephanie Hsu and Kunal Dudheker as Soo and John, married friends of Shang-Chi and Katy;[17] Zach Cherry as Klev, a bus rider who livestreams one of Shang-Chi's fights (after portraying a street vendor in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming);[17][38] and Dee Baker as the voice of Morris, a hundun who befriends Slattery.[39] Jade Xu reprises her role as a Black Widow named Helen from Black Widow (2021),[40] while Tim Roth provides uncredited vocals for his The Incredible Hulk (2008) character Emil Blonsky / Abomination.[41][42] Mark Ruffalo and Brie Larson appear, uncredited, in the mid-credits scene, reprising their respective MCU roles of Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel.[43]

According to Margaret Loesch, former president and CEO of Marvel Productions, Stan Lee discussed a potential film or television series based on the Marvel Comics character Shang-Chi with actor Brandon Lee and his mother Linda Lee during the 1980s, with the intention of having Brandon Lee star as the character.[44] Brandon's father, martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was the visual inspiration for artist Paul Gulacy when drawing Shang-Chi during his tenure on the Master of Kung Fu comic book in the 1970s.[45] In 2001, Stephen Norrington signed on to direct a Shang-Chi film entitled The Hands of Shang-Chi.[46][47] By 2003, it was in development at DreamWorks Pictures with Yuen Woo-Ping replacing Norrington as director and Bruce C. McKenna writing the screenplay.[48] Ang Lee joined the project as a producer in 2004, but it did not materialize and the rights to the character reverted to Marvel.[47] In September 2005, Marvel chairman and CEO Avi Arad announced Shang-Chi as one of ten properties being developed as films by the newly formed Marvel Studios,[49] after the company received financing to produce the slate with Paramount Pictures as distributor.[50] Marvel thought the character could make a great film, despite being relatively unknown, because he has a "very Disney story" in the comic books.[13]

The Ten Rings organization was introduced in Marvel Studios' first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, Iron Man (2008), without its leader the Mandarin. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige felt they could not do the character justice in the Iron Man films because they focused on Tony Stark / Iron Man, and planned to introduce him in a later film instead.[51] According to Chris Fenton, former president of the Chinese-based film production company DMG Entertainment that was in talks with Marvel Studios to co-produce their films, Marvel offered to create a teaser featuring either Shang-Chi or the Mandarin for the Chinese market that would be featured at the end of The Avengers (2012). DMG balked at the offer since the Mandarin's negative stereotypical portrayal in the comics could potentially prevent the film from being released in China and risk DMG being shut down. The Mandarin would eventually appear in the DMG co-produced film Iron Man 3 (2013) portrayed by Ben Kingsley, but he is revealed to be an actor named Trevor Slattery who was hired to pose as the Mandarin.[52] Feige felt this did not necessarily mean a more faithful version of the character did not exist in the MCU,[51] and this was confirmed in the Marvel One-Shot short film All Hail the King (2014) in which Kingsley reprised his role as Slattery.[53][54]