Marvel Studios has released the first Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings poster, giving us our first official look at the highly anticipated film. The movie stars Simu Liu as the titular Shang-Chi, a martial artist trained by the Ten Rings organization which in the comics has ties to the villainous character The Mandarin. Indeed, following Iron Man 3’s bait-and-switch with The Mandarin, Shang-Chi promises to introduce the “real” Mandarin with Tony Leung filling the role of Wenwu/The Mandarin, who also happens to be Shang-Chi’s father.
Destin Daniel Cretton (Just Mercy) directs the film from a screenplay by Dave Callaham (Mortal Kombat), and it marks Marvel’s first superhero movie with a lead of Asian descent. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has a 98% Asian cast, according to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, so it promises to diversify the MCU in a big way.
Filming wrapped in Australia last year, following a pandemic shutdown, but this is our first official look at any of the actors in character and when Liu revealed the poster on his Twitter, he noted the first trailer would be released “in a few weeks.” The film was part of Marvel’s Phase 4 shuffle after the pandemic delayed their 2020 slate, but is now set to hit theaters on September 3, 2021 after Black Widow took over its original planned July release date slot.
Check out the poster below to get a look at Simu Liu as our new Marvel superhero. The Shang-Chi cast also includes Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, Ronny Chieng, and Michelle Yeoh.