Shang-Chi spoilers follow.
While Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings brings a new superhero to the MCU, it also has a surprising link to the past.
We already knew that the movie would introduce the 'real' Mandarin and reveal more about the mysterious Ten Rings organisation that were first spotted way back in Iron Man. However, that wasn't where the connections ended.
In a surprise move, Marvel revealed the appearance of this particular character before the movie's release, with the actor even taking part in the official press conference. Just in case you're remaining totally spoiler-free though, look away now.
If there's been one twist in the MCU that has divided fans, it's what Iron Man 3 did with the character of the Mandarin.
In case you've somehow forgotten, it was revealed the Mandarin we were seeing was actually Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley). He was a washed-up actor hired by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) to pose as the Mandarin as a front to his villainous acts.
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By the end of Iron Man 3, poor Trevor was locked up and a later Marvel One-Shot, All Hail the King, saw him broken out of prison by a Ten Rings member to go and meet the real Mandarin. That was the last we saw of him in the MCU... until Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Initially, it seems as though Trevor's meeting with Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) – who's the head of the Ten Rings, but not really the Mandarin as comics fans know him – wouldn't have ended well for him.
After tracking them down in Macau, Wenwu takes Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Xialing (Meng'er Zhang) and Katy (Awkwafina) to the Ten Rings base. He's seeking the help of his children to free their mother, so he's being nice to them initially.
Over dinner, he talks of his role as the Ten Rings leader being "appropriated" in the west. Wenwu mocks that Killian used the name of a chicken dish as the moniker for his terrorist, so it doesn't seem as though he'd have held Trevor in high regard for going along with it.
Somehow, though, when Shang-Chi, Xialing and Katy are locked up at the base for refusing to go along with his plan, they meet Trevor who is alive and well. He's even pretty happy about his lot in life as he reveals that when he was taken to Wenwu, he saved himself with a likely-brilliant (of course) performance from Macbeth.
Ever since – and unless Trevor got snapped, we're talking almost a decade – he's been performing for the Ten Rings in weekly acting gigs. Not since his King Lear was the toast of Croydon has Trevor's acting been so popular, and all because he's effectively the jester for Wenwu and the Ten Rings.
Trevor has even made a new friend during his time in captivity in the form of Morris, an adorable faceless creature from Ta Lo. It's the mythical village where Shang-Chi's mother was born and it's where Wenwu thinks she's being held captive, so he's planning on heading there, freeing her and burning down the village.
Luckily, Morris knows another way and even though he doesn't talk, he does talk to Trevor, so Shang-Chi, Xialing and Katy take Trevor to Ta Lo when they escape. Unsurprisingly, Trevor doesn't prove to be much help in preparing the village to fight against the Ten Rings.
But despite all the soul-sucking carnage that ensues in the final battle, Trevor tries to survive it by acting dead and persuading Morris to do the same. "It's just a performance," he tells his new best friend.
It works and Trevor survives the battle. He's seen at the end as the people of Ta Lo pay respect to their dead, but that's the last we see of him.
Could he have stayed in Ta Lo to perform to a whole new audience? Perhaps. But we feel we're not likely to get another surprise reunion with Trevor anytime soon in the MCU. Maybe in Shang-Chi 2.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is out now in cinemas.
![Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings DVD [2021]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1636376887-5145z31PHQL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings DVD [2021]")
Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings DVD [2021]
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
