Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has finished filming.
Simu Liu, who plays the title role in the film, has announced on Instagram that the film has wrapped. Director Destin Daniel Cretton also posted his own picture, presumably from the cast's wrap party.
Shang-Chi will be Marvel's first solo movie with an Asian lead, following in the footsteps of recent representation-driven blockbusters Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Awkwafina and Tony Leung co-star in the film, while Michelle Yeoh is rumored to have been cast. Eternals also has a diverse cast of heroes with Gemma Chan's Sersi leading the ensemble, but the film is now releasing after Shang-Chi instead of before it as originally intended.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will feature the debut of classic Iron Man villain the Mandarin, after the character was played for laughs by Ben Kingsley in Iron Man 3. While many fans hated the twist reveal that washed-up British actor Trevor Slattery was only pretending to be the Mandarin for Aldrich Killian, Marvel Studios later revealed that the real Mandarin exists and doesn't approve of Slattery's impersonation in the short film All Hail the King. The Marvel One-Shot ended with a member of the terrorist organization the Ten Rings kidnapping Slattery to bring him to the Mandarin. Now, Leung steps into the role as the main antagonist of Shang-Chi.
The Ten Rings terrorist group has been seen across the Marvel Cinematic Universe since it began, as members of the organization are the ones who kidnapped Tony Stark in the original Iron Man movie. The group was also seen in Iron Man 2, Aldrich Killian impersonated them in Iron Man 3, and a member was seen in Ant-Man. Their logo also appeared in a flashback in the first season of Daredevil.
Little else is known about the plot of Shang-Chi, but set photos and rumors have offered a bit more clarity. The film appears to be set in 2020, during the Blip, and is said to center around a martial-arts tournament, with the Mandarin selecting Shang-Chi as his champion to win the legendary Ten Rings in battle. Several smaller Marvel villains will appear as contestants during the tournament. The Ten Rings are powerful artifacts brought to Earth by Fin Fang Foom, a shapeshifting alien dragon from another galaxy. Fin Fang Foom has been rumored to appear in the movie as well, although it's unknown how large of a part he will have. Set pictures have shown an entire ancient village being built in Australia, while Awkwafina's role is currently unknown.
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings releases on July 9th, 2021.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter