Jonathan Schwartz, a producer on the upcoming Marvel Studios film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has discussed the redesign that the Ten Rings got in the film compared to their comics counterpart. Phase 4 of the MCU films began earlier this summer with Black Widow, and now the universe is about to gain a new superhero in Shang-Chi. The MCU has been in full swing this year, with their Disney+ shows coming out to great acclaim and their film output beginning to ramp up.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will follow the titular character (played by Simu Liu) fleeing from a life involving his father, The Mandarin (played by Tony Leung), the leader of the terrorist organization called the Ten Rings. The Mandarin also has a deadly and powerful weapon that goes by the same name of the organization, but they are a bit different in this film. They are now seen as rings that go up the arms rather than on the fingers. When the film was announced, many were wondering how they would handle the design of the rings, as they would be too similar to Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet, which has the Infinity Stones on the knuckles of the Gauntlet.
Now, producer Jonathan Schwartz has talked about the design change for the Ten Rings. In an interview with The Direct, Schwartz talks about how they took inspiration from Hun Gar Iron Rings seen in the film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. He also discusses the look of the rings in the quote below:
You know, it may have been a little bit of that, but I think it may just be, there was a little bit of, we sort of felt like the finger rings were going to look a little goofy in practice. And a little bit of leaning into the genre elements. How do we make that come together?
It is no surprise that the Ten Rings were changed for Shang-Chi. Having ten rings on The Mandarin's fingers would look too similar to the Infinity Gauntlet in live-action. Additionally, some viewers could potentially confuse the two powerful MCU weapons. Plus, Schwartz talks about how they would not translate well and would also look goofy. Sometimes a direct translation from comic book page to screen does not always work out well, so they could have potentially done them as rings before but changed the way they looked because of screen tests. The new design of the Ten Rings seems to take a different approach to the powers, so that will help differentiate them from the Infinity Gauntlet even more.
The quote from Jonathan Schwartz shows how Marvel Studios is trying to set the Ten Rings apart from the Infinity Gauntlet and really solidify Shang-Chi as a new step for the MCU. They are an important aspect of the character of The Mandarin, so fans will finally get to see them in action. It will be exciting to see how the Ten Rings are used when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters on September 3.
Source: The Direct