You can't outrun who you really are.
On actor Simu Liu's birthday, Marvel Studios has released the first trailer for his upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In the film, Marvel Comics superhero Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past after he is drawn into the Ten Rings organization.
The two-minute teaser trailer opens with Shang-Chi remembering his past during a stormy night. We see Shang doing push-ups in a small basement garage that has been turned into a single room apartment.
As a stylish red sportscar pulls up, we hear the voice of Wenwu, The Mandarin, played by Tony Leung. "I gave you ten years to live your life..." Wenwu begins, presumably to his son, Shang-Chi. We then see the owner of the sportscar tossing the keys to Shang, who working as a valet, followed by Shang singing karaoke with his friend Katy (Awkwafina) and having fun with her and their friend Jon Jon (Ronny Chieng). "...and where did that get you?"
We flash back to Shang-Chi being trained as a child by The Mandarin and his henchman, Razor Fist (Florian Munteanu), which seems to continue until Shang becomes a teenager.
"You walked in my shadow," Wenwu continues, as we continue flashing back to see a younger Wenwu smash a table with a forceful blow, followed by teenaged Shang-Chi fighting several masked fighters. "I trained you...so the most dangerous people in the world couldn't kill you."
We then see Jon Jon bringing Shang-Chi and Katy to some sort of fight club, then glimpse Shang preparing to fight someone in the arena.
Next, we see Shang-Chi and Katy arriving at his father's compound by helicopter, as Wenwu continues, "Son...it's time for you to take your place by my side." This is followed by Wenwu in much longer hair, now fully garbed and menacing as The Mandarin. Following this, we see Shang, Katy, Jon Jon, and Xialing, Shang-Chi's sister (Meng'er Zhang) staring a large spray of water that somehow becomes motionless in mid-air.
"That's not going to happen," replies Shang-Chi. We then see Razor Fist swan-diving out of a helicopter towards Shang and the two are shown fighting. More fights follow, including Shang fighting a mysterious woman in a forest, several armored warriors charging into battle, and Shang battling Xialing.
Wenwu remarks in another voiceover, "You can't outrun...who you really are." This is followed by Shang-Chi fighting some men inside a passenger bus in California, with Katy asking, "Who are you?" Shang strikes a formidable pose inside the bus, which is followed by the movie's logo.
In the trailer's final scene, we see Shang and Katy are still aboard the bus, which is now careening through the city streets out of control. The bus runs over a parked car as Shang-Chi goes "Oh, God" while Katy, who is now driving the bus, is screaming "Hold on, everybody!" as the bus is tilted sideways. Shang grabs a woman to save her from falling out a busted window and Katy continues screaming until the bus finally stops. Now safe, Katy smiles and says, "We made a good team!"
If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on
September 3, 2021.