Shang-Chi: 8 Characters Who Should Appear
Which familiar faces should play a part in Shang-Chi's big screen debut?
As every fan of the franchise knows, next year will see the launch of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Across two years, we'll be getting a handful of films and new television shows that'll catch us up with regulars like Doctor Strange, Thor, the Falcon and the Winter Soldier and introduce us to a bunch of newcomers, like the Eternals and Shang-Chi.
In the latter's case, it came as a surprise to many in 2018 to hear that Marvel was trying to get a film off the ground based on the character, but that eagerness is exactly what makes the project - revealed earlier this year as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - so exciting. Shang-Chi has been around in the comics for nearly 50 years, the Master of Kung Fu, and this is Marvel's big chance to swing in a unique direction for the big screen side of its colossal franchise, both as its first Asian-led film and for how different its martial arts tone and style could be to everything that's come before it.
Of course, as part of a larger universe, Shang-Chi's film will undoubtedly feature the return of a few familiar faces along the way in his anticipated debut. While we shouldn't expect, say, all the Avengers to swoop in and recruit him in the third act, which would detract from it being his story, let's run down a number of characters from the MCU's history who would fit right in...
8. Jackson Norriss
One of the biggest ways that Shang-Chi has already tethered itself to the MCU's legacy is the fact that it will be exploring the Ten Rings, the terrorist organization that's been around since the very beginning and caused Tony Stark's rebirth as Iron Man. As you may remember, Iron Man 3 featured a version of the Mandarin that was quite divisive for comics fans, revealed as a facade played by Trevor Slattery and manufactured by Aldrich Killian.
In Shang-Chi's film, we'll be meeting the real Mandarin, portrayed by Tony Leung, and you'd be forgiven if you're wondering how that's possible if you haven't seen the One-Shot "All Hail the King," which was released in February of 2014. In that short film, we caught up with an imprisoned Trevor Slattery as he was interviewed by Scoot McNairy's Jackson Norriss as part of a documentary.
As the short unfolded, however, Norriss revealed the truth: That he was a member of the Ten Rings sent by the Mandarin - who wasn't happy with Slattery masquerading as him - to kidnap Slattery and bring him to face consequences. That was the last we ever saw of Slattery and Norriss, but Shang-Chi's film would be the perfect opportunity to bring Norriss back and tie it all together.