Photo: Marvel
Hey, it's the Spider-Man guy!
By Isabel Barreiro — Written on Apr 20, 2021
Yesterday was a big day not only for Marvel fans but for Asians across the world.
Marvel Studios gave Simu Liu, who stars in the title role, the perfect birthday present, dropping the teaser trailer for the comic book film giant's upcoming film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."
This is the first film of Marvel's Cinematic Universe to feature a majority Asian cast.
For those who don’t know anything about this film, it is centered on a '70s comic that follows Shang-Chi, a man raised to become a deadly assassin by his father, the immortal crime lord: Dr. Fu Manchu.
Due to Dr. Fu Manchu being a heavily stereotypical character Marvel has switched it to The Mandarin, a major Chinese supervillain of Marvel comics who appeared in "Iron Man 3," played by decidedly not-Asian actor Guy Pearce.
(And kind of by Ben Kingsley. Look, "Iron Man 3" was a bit of a mess.)
Marvel hopes to correct some of its past mistakes with these comics and give proper representation.
The premise of the comics revolves around Shang coming to grips with who his father really is and, of course, saving the world.
Fans speculate that this movie will take place during The Blip, the five-year period — also known as the Decimation, the Snap or the Snappening — after Thanos snapped his fingers while wearing the Infinity Stones and wiped half the Earth's population out of existence.
From the trailer alone, we know that the movie will have incredible fight sequences, a ton of energy, be an emotional rollercoaster, and at last give Asians the superhero they've waited to see on the big screen for too long.
And this wouldn’t be Marvel if there weren't a few easter eggs in the trailer.
Lucky for you, I rewatched the trailer an unhealthy amount of times and scoured the internet to dig them all up for you.
These are the 5 Easter eggs in the "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" trailer explained.
1. Death Dealer
Wow, if that isn't a villain name I don’t know what is. If looks can kill, this one has the potential to bring the fatalities.
Photo: Marvel via YouTube
Death Dealer seems to be on the right side of The Mandarin’s inner circle (get it circle?...ring?...anyway). We can see him constantly with Shang in his training and can tell he has played a prominent role in his life.
But who exactly is Death Dealer?
From the 1982 comic book arc, we know that his real name is Li Ching-Lin, a former MI6 agent who was thrown out due to his brutal methods.
2. The Ten Rings Organization
If you look closely at the symbols behind The Mandarin it should look familiar to Iron Man fans.
Photo: Marvel via YouTube
We were actually introduced to this symbol that represents the ancient organization the Ten Rings in "Iron Man" when Tony Stark was being held captive.
Throughout the Iron Man films, we have been giving information that this organization is not only deadly but globally has its claws embedded in the world.
3. The Actual Ten Rings
You’ll notice in this part of the trailer where The Mandarin, who looks like an '80s crime boss ready to get his money, that he is wearing the ten rings around his wrists.
Photo: Marvel via YouTube
Shouldn’t they be called bracelets then? Anyway, you go on to see that they give him abnormal strength. But is that all they can do?
The rings grant the wearer different magical abilities. And yes, they’re actually rings.
For example, one gives the power to create darkness and another can create lightning.
These sound way cooler than the Infinity stones and look more fashionable. Oops, did I write that out loud?
4. W-W888
A helicopter marked W-W888 is seen in the trailer. W-W888 could stand for August 1988.
Photo: Marvel via YouTube
This could be because in 1988, Marvel published a new Master of Kung Fu story in Marvel Comics Presents #1-8.
5. The Guy From Spider-Man!
Remember that guy in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" who was like, “Hey, do a flip!”
Well, I guess he’s either selling hot dogs in San Francisco or at least on vacation because you can see actor Zach Cherry, who played the "do a flip," guy chilling on the bus while Shang-Chi is fighting Razor-Fist and his crew.
Photo: Marvel via YouTube
From NYC to San Fran, this man can’t seem to escape superhero battles.
Bonus Fun Fact!
Did you know that Stan Lee had been trying to get Shang-Chi greenlit since back in the day? It’s true!
Stan Lee’s former boss Margaret Loesch told Inverse that Lee wanted to make Shang-Chi into a film or television series and have Bruce Lee’s son as Shang-Chi. Just imagine!
When will "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" be released?
Everyone is buzzing with excitement as Marvel’s Phase 4 continues. The movie will drop in theaters on September 3.
Until then, we have Disney+'s "Loki" in May, the July release of "Black Widow," and this week's finale of "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" to tide us over!
Isabel Barreiro is a writer living in Miami, Florida. She assists with audience development at YourTango.