Overview
When Black Widow reaches both cinemas and streaming this July, it'll mark only the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that solely focuses on a female protagonist. Yes, really. Come September, when the franchise's next flick hits, it too will make history — because Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is the MCU's first movie with an Asian lead.
Hitting that milestone is obviously long overdue; Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings will be the 25th MCU flick, after all. Simu Liu is doing the honours, playing the titular martial artist and trained assassin, who has spent ten years living a normal life but is suddenly drawn back into the shady Ten Rings organisation.
As the just-dropped first trailer for the new superhero feature shows, Kim's Convenience star Liu will have plenty of chances to show off his character's skills. He'll have impressive company, too. Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings's cast includes Awkwafina, following on from her voice work in fellow Disney release Raya and the Last Dragon; the great Michelle Yeoh, who was last seen on the big screen in Last Christmas and Boss Level; and the just-as-iconic Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, a mainstay of Wong Kar-Wai's films such as In the Mood for Love, 2046 and The Grandmaster.
Fala Chen (The Undoing), Florian Munteanu (Creed II), Ronny Chieng (Godzilla vs Kong) and debutant Meng'er Zhang also feature, while Short Term 12 and Just Mercy's Destin Daniel Cretton is on directing duties.
And, while watching the initial teaser, you can be forgiven for looking out for familiar sights amid the heavy martial arts action, with the movie shot in Sydney.
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings will be the second of three new Marvel flicks to reach cinemas this year, sandwiched between the aforementioned Black Widow and the Angelina Jolie-starring Eternals. The MCU is making up for lost time, after 2020 passed by without a new cinema release due to the pandemic — although the franchise has been busy on the small screen in 2021's first half, thanks to WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the upcoming Loki.
Check out the trailer below:
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings releases in cinemas Down Under on September 2, 2021.