Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first huge box office success from the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Spider-Man: No Way Home. This is thanks to a surprisingly three-dimensional antagonist and some of the best fighting choreography in the franchise.
But it didn't achieve this result without a fascinating development and production. From a very strange phone call between the director and Sir Ben Kingsley to even Kevin Feige getting starstruck by an unlikely actor, some surprising stories have come out of the making of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
The Writer Knew Early On That The Film Would Include Fake Mandarin
Trevor Slattery first appeared in the MCU in Iron Man 3, where he imitated the Mandarin as a misdirection for the real villain. It was revealed that Trevor is nothing more than a theatre actor from London who typically loves beer and football. It might have made the real villain of the movie disappointing by comparison, but the character himself is fascinating and massively entertaining.
That's what writer Dave Callaham thought too, as the character doesn't just make a cameo, but he has a surprising amount of screentime in Shang-Chi. The writer wanted to include the London theatre actor because he loved the character so much, and he knew from the start that he wanted to write him into the movie. And in many ways, Trevor sets up a Shang-Chi sequel too.
Wenwu Was Hard To Write
For the most part, outside of Thanos and Loki, Marvel has always struggled with writing compelling and memorable villains, but Wenwu is one of the few who is. In Shang-Chi, Wenwu isn't just the villain of the movie, but he also has a sordid past, as he tragically lost the love of his life.
That gave Wenwu a story arc that so few other villains ever get, but Callaham says it was tough to write. The writer thought that finding the balance between Wenwu being a sympathetic character and an evil antagonist was tricky. It was like walking a tight rope, as doing too much of one or the other would have completely ruined him. But there's still more of his story to be told, as a spin-off about Wenwu's empire is something fans are dying for.
Shang-Chi Almost Had A Brother
As Shang-Chi is all about his relationship with his family, one of the most interesting parts of the movie is his reunion with his estranged sister, Xu Xialing. However, it wasn't always planned for the hero to have a sister, and at one point in development, he was actually going to have a brother.
According to director Destin Daniel Cretton, the male sibling was more influenced by the Shang-Chi comic books. But it didn't end there and the director went wild with the idea, as he remembers the character turning into a monster in an early development discussion.
The Stars Didn't Know About The Post-Credits Scene Until The Final Day Of Shooting
Marvel has built up a reputation to keep things close to their chest, so much so that they even hide big moments of the screenplay from the very actors who are meant to be in them. That reputation continues with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as Simu Liu and Awkwafina were kept in the dark about the post-credits scene.
The director said that the two actors didn't have a clue about what would entail in the post-credits scene until the final day of filming. It's hardly a surprise, as the scene features both Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner, with the biggest surprise of the whole movie being that Banner is no longer Smart Hulk.
It Had A Lower Budget Than Most Other MCU Movies
Shang-Chi cost just $150 million to make, which is a much smaller budget than most other MCU movies. The only others that were cheaper were Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk, and Ant-Man. And there are quite a few reasons as to why this was the case.
For starters, there's no big name attached to the movie, meaning that Marvel Studios doesn't have to pay any of the cast $60+ million like they would with Robert Downey Jr. or Scarlett Johannson. But the movie also received a $50 million tax credit from the Australian government for shooting in the country too.
Ben Kingsley Was Method Acting ... Kind Of
Actors of such high caliber with multiple award wins don't tend to have a sense of humor, and they take what they do extraordinarily seriously. But despite being a four-time Academy Award nominee, and winning one of them for playing Gandhi, Sir Ben Kingsley is seemingly one of the most entertaining actors off-screen too.
According to Cretton, he called Kinglsey to ask if he would return in his role as Trevor. Mid-conversation, the actor would say something to somebody in another room, then hold the phone away from his mouth, and then respond in character as Trevor. Apparently, Kingsley told Trevor, "He’s directing the new Marvel movie. They want you to be in it." Then Trevor would respond with, "They want me to be in it?! When do we start?!" and this went on for two minutes.
A Fight Scene Was Cut But Might Appear In Another Movie
There are tons of similar martial arts movies to watch for fans of Shang-Chi, and that's because the movie is full of amazing action sequences. But despite being full to the brim with fight scenes, the director still wanted more.
There were quite a few scenes cut from the movie, but there was one cut fight scene in particular that hurts Cretton the most for not making it into the film. The director doesn't expand on exactly what happens in the scene, but he does say that the environment of the scene was exciting and that he hopes it can make it into a future movie.
Awkwafina Learned Archery For The Movie
Awkwafina plays Katy in the 2021 movie, and though the character doesn't have any powers or rings of her own, she seems to be quite the Archery enthusiast or at least an advanced intermediate in a fitting new hobby.
There are many incredible hand-to-hand fights in the MCU, and that's no less true than in Shang-Chi. However, one of the most exciting scenes is when the group, including Katy, defends Ta Lo from the Dweller-in-Darkness, and Katy uses a bow and arrow. And according to Awkwafina, the actor actually learned archery to prepare for the scene.
Tony Leung Left Kevin Feige Speechless
Tony Leung is a fully-fledged movie star in his native Hong Kong, and he's best known for the romantic classic In The Mood For Love and Infernal Affairs, which is what The Departed is based on. However, he had never been in a major Hollywood movie, until now.
Shang-Chi is the first Hollywood movie Leung starred in and nobody is more grateful for that than Kevin Feige. The Marvel producer explained that he felt "lucky that he chose us." He was so infatuated with the actor that Feige was speechless when he first met Leung, and he called the actor an "otherworldly star directly from the sky."
Working With Kingsley Was The Highlight Of The Director's Career
It's hardly a surprise that Cretton was so infatuated with Ben Kingsley after the hilarious phone call the two of them shared. However, the working relationship continued on set and during production, and the director doesn't have enough nice words to say about the actor.
Cretton explained that "watching this genius work was a highlight of my life." And though the actor clearly doesn't need any direction, the two obviously made a great team and worked well together, and hopefully, that collaboration will continue in the sequel.