The Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings gave fans their first look at the latest MCU superhero. It also provided some heavily anticipated context to what the film will actually be about. While it seems to be about the origin of the character, there could be other major Shang-Chi comic book storylines that the movie could adapt.
Shang-Chi has been a significant character in Marvel Comics since the 1970s, and there are many storylines he's been part of over the last several decades that could play some role in the movie. The trailer gave a few hints on where the story is going, but there is certainly potential for much more comics lore to come.
Origin Story
The film seems like it will tackle major elements of Shang-Chi's origin. Comic book readers already know the MCU has made some major changes to that just from the trailer. Shang-Chi made his debut in 1975, in Special Marvel Edition #15. As in the trailer, he was raised to be an assassin by his father, a ruthless criminal warlord. But that's where the similarities end.
In the original comics, his father was Fun Manchu, an existing character from a series of spy novels that Marvel had licensed to make comics of. After they lost the rights, the Fun Manchu connections were replaced with new, original ones. In the movie, it seems that Shang-Chi's father could be the classic Iron Man villain, The Mandarin.
Master Of Kung Fu
After his debut, Shang-Chi launched into his adventures with his first solo title, Master Of Kung-Fu in 1974. During this period, Shang-Chi turned against his father and his criminal ambitions and became a secret agent for the British spy agency MI-6.
This could play some role in the movie, though MI-6 might be replaced by the FBI. In the movie, Shang-Chi is living in San Francisco. This also happens to be the station of a prominent MCU FBI agent, Jimmy Woo, who was last seen tracking down a mysterious witness in WandaVision.
Fighting The Corporation
The movie could also potentially tie into very current MCU events in ways fans may not have expected. A significant early storyline saw the hero teaming up with fellow Marvel martial artist Iron Fist in 1976 to take on the international criminal organization known as The Corporation.
While this company didn't have direct ties to his father's organization, it was run in part by a shadowy figure with a huge if shadowy role in The Power Broker.
Mandarin: The Story Of My Life
The original depiction of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3 was divisive among fans, but Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings seems like it may retcon some of it. That could mean the movie will be drawing from some of The Mandarin's comic book storylines. One major one it could lean on is Mandarin: Story Of My Life.
This relatively recent story in Invincible Iron Man Annual #1 provided a revised backstory for the classic villain in the comics. The Mandarin kidnaps a filmmaker and forces them to record his life story, which is all first hand and could be unreliable, considering the source.
Rings Of The Mandarin
Another Mandarin story that could play a role deals directly with the seeming Macguffin of the movie, the Ten Rings. In 2012, the Rings Of The Mandarin storyline focused on the famous weapons of the villain, by further developing their backstory. Each of the individual rings has a different name and power associated with it and were each dispersed to different individuals for safekeeping.
The original origin of the rings, bestowed on The Mandarin by aliens, may change however given what little fans have seen of the movie.
Spider-Island
Spider-Island, the 2011 crossover event that saw everyone in New York City develop Spider-Man powers, is unlikely to play any role in the movie. But there's one aspect of it that might. During the story, Spider-Man loses his Spidey-sense and turns to Shang-Chi to help him learn martial arts as a way to compensate.
While it wouldn't be a big part of the story, a cameo from Peter Parker would be one way to help tie in Shang-Chi to the rest of the franchise. And a martial artist Spider-Man is just one way the new Shang-Chi movie could drastically change the MCU,
The Protectors
With Shang-Chi being the spotlight of his first movie, there won't be a lot of time to include other heroes, but there could be a chance to lay some groundwork for the future. Jimmy Woo is a possibility, and he would connect with an important Shang-Chi storyline from recent years, The Protectors.
The Protectors was a short-lived team of Asian-American Marvel superheroes consisting of Woo, Shang-Chi, Silk, and Amadeus Cho as the Hulk. They debuted in 2017. The movie could plant some seeds for this squad in the movie that could pay off later.
Avengers World
Another FATWS connection Shang-Chi could potentially connect to is the fictional Marvel Comics country of Madripoor. In Avengers World #1, Shang-Chi s his fellow Avengers Wolverine and Black Widow on a mission to Madripoor to quell some riots. The mission takes a turn when it's revealed that Madripoor is built on the head of a giant dragon.
A giant dragon is a possibility in the movie. Images from the trailer show Shang-Chi holding a unique weapon covered in dragon scales, which could point to the presence of some of the mythical creatures in the movie.
Brothers And Sisters
One recent comic book storyline that seems like it could have a major influence on the movie is Brothers And Sisters, which kicked off the new Shang-Chi ongoing series in 2020.
In this story, major elements of Shang-Chi's backstory are revised. He discovers his father's criminal enterprise is actually an ancient secret society, The Five Weapons Society, and he has a half-brother and half-sister, Brother Sabre and Sister Dagger. Shang-Chi then becomes the head of the society as the Supreme Commander.
Shang-Chi's Day Off
A one-shot from 2017 could also play a role in crafting Shang-Chi's MCU depiction. Shang-Chi is just trying to live his life in Shang-Chi's Day Off, but his efforts to chill out are frustrated by an encounter with a clan of ninjas who are experimenting on animals.
Though the story might not play a big role in the movie, it does seem that Shang-Chi is just trying to be a normal person. He keeps getting drawn into the life he left behind, as witnessed in the spectacular action scene on the city bus.
