Marvel Studios almost introduced Shang-Chi into the Marvel Cinematic Universe nine years early - and it would have led to a very different MCU. At San Diedo Comic-Con 2019, Marvel Studios finally revealed its much-anticipated (and now severely disrupted) Phase 4 slate. One of the most exciting announcements was Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings, starring Simu Liu as the titular hero.
Marvel has long had plans for Shang-Chi. As far back as 2005, when Marvel Studios first began considering producing its own movies, he was one of the characters they openly discussed - along with Ant-Man, The Avengers, Black Panther, Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, Doctor Strange, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, and Power Pack. This The Avengers.
In spite of this focus, Shang-Chi almost appeared in the MCU sooner rather than later. As Phase 1 continued, Marvel approached the Chinese-based DMG Entertainment Motion Picture Group to discuss the idea of co-producing movies. The Chinese market was growing particularly important, and a partnership with Chinese studios would guarantee Marvel entry into that market. They hit upon what they considered a smart idea: a post-credit scene at the end of The Avengers that would tease a prominent Chinese character, either Shang-Chi or the Mandarin. "Simply putting Chinese people in a film was mistakenly thought of as the guaranteed price for ission to China's lucrative market," then-DMG president Chris Fenton observed. "So, studios did it." Marvel asked DMG to let them know which character they'd prefer to be teased, which in itself indicates how little the decision-makers really cared about it.
DMG ed on the idea of a teaser in The Avengers. They don't seem to have been particularly enthused by either the approach or the two characters who were suggested by Marvel. In their view, the Mandarin was the more interesting, but he was also the riskiest; they feared he had the potential to become a Red Dawn character, who got Marvel completely banned from China. As Fenton explained to Tim Connors, then-Chief Operating Officer of Marvel Studios:
"The Mandarin scares the sh** out of us... He is way too controversial for Chinese censors... The Mandarin looks and acts like the stereotypically derogatory Chinese man. Not only does he have a long spiny beard that he's constantly straightening with his fingers, but he also regularly speaks in uber-'Chinglish,' constantly saying Chinese-cliché types of proverbs."
Some figures at Marvel had been aware of these potential issues for years. There had been discussions about introducing the Mandarin in the first Iron Man 3, and the Mandarin's time came.
Shang-Chi was dropped, again indicating just how little commitment Marvel had made to the idea at this time. The Mandarin of Iron Man 3, meanwhile, is best seen as an attempt by Marvel to have their cake and eat it; to introduce the traditional Mandarin, but turn all those stereotypical tropes into just a performance. Thankfully, he didn't turn out to be a Red Dawn character for Marvel, and they were never banned from China. But the approach they took proved so controversial they released an entire one-shot, "All Hail the King," to walk it back; and they'll finally be completing that process in 2021's Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings.
