MCU Phase 4 Theory: The Mandarin Will Awaken Fin Fang Foom
The Mandarin (Tony Leung) could unleash Fin Fang Foom on the world in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The creature is heavily rumored to be making his live-action debut in the upcoming Phase 4 movie starring Simu Liu as Marvel’s Master of Kung Fu. In Marvel Comics, Fin Fang Foom is a powerful alien dragon and a villain of Iron Man.
Written by David Callaham and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is scheduled for a July 2021 release. The second movie on Marvel’s Phase 4 slate will introduce audiences to Shang-Chi, a Chinese superhero and an expert in martial arts. In the comic books, Shang-Chi is the son of criminal mastermind Fu Manchu, but the movie version of the story will be swapping him out with the Mandarin. As Iron Man’s greatest villain, there’s no real basis in the comics for Mandarin to be connected with the Shang-Chi, but the new movie is providing Marvel with a great opportunity to finally use the character properly.
The Mandarin is someone who Marvel has been teasing since the first Iron Man, as even the mention of the Ten Rings organization was a reference to the villain. Iron Man 3 took things a step further by faking out viewers with Ben Kingsley’s character, a person who pretended to be the Mandarin but turned out to be an imposter. Later, Marvel attempted to correct this with a short film that confirmed that a real Mandarin is out there somewhere, and now he’ll finally be appearing in the flesh, leaving it very well possible that the story he’ll bring to the MCU will involve the long-term Marvel villain Fin Fang Foom. It may well be the machinations of the Mandarin that result in the dragon’s emergence.
In a scene in Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.’s character flies past a billboard that features Fin Fang Foom. This art came from Adi Granov, who came up with this design for the dragon for Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas, a miniseries that he worked on with Iron Man director Jon Favreau. Favreau, who liked what Granov came up with for Fin Fang Foom in the comic, asked him to create an image of the dragon to be used in the movie. It’s unclear if this artwork will ever build to anything in the MCU, but this character is indeed Fin Fang Foom. As for what he’s doing on a billboard, it could be that in the MCU a movie was being made about him. He’s an ancient alien dragon who would likely be the subject of various myths and legends, so him making appearances in Earth’s pop culture does make sense.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may be a martial arts movie, but a dragon like Fin Fang Foom wouldn’t be totally out of place, especially when considering his link to the source material. He may not have much to do with Shang-Chi in the classic stories, but he does have a history with the Mandarin and the ten rings themselves. The MCU’s Ten Rings is a criminal organization, but in the comics, the name carries a much more literal meaning. The weapons that the Mandarin uses against Iron Man in combat are ten powerful rings worn on his fingers. Each one possesses its own unique power. He acquired them from a crashed alien spaceship that originated from the planet Maklu IV. The denizens of Maklu IV were dragon-like creatures who used their advanced technology for the purpose of conquering other civilizations.
Among them was Fin Fang Foom, who was put in suspended animation to be used as a contingency plan in case anything went wrong with their plans to take over Earth. He was awakened at various points in his life, including in the modern era when he was found by the Mandarin. After teaming up, Mandarin and the dragon became a force to be reckoned with in China. If Marvel does bring the real ten rings to the MCU in Shang-Chi – a scenario that seems very plausible – it could be that they’ll share a similar backstory. If their extraterrestrial origins from the comics are translated to the big screen, Fin Fang Foom could easily be carried over as well, given that it was his people who created them in the first place.
Fin Fang Foom’s introduction could be connected to the character that Michelle Yeoh is portraying in Shang-Chi. Yeoh’s Jiang Nan has no obvious connection to any comic book character, but many have come to the conclusion that she’ll be the person who trains Shang-Chi. As someone with a deep martial arts background, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if this was her role, but there are other possibilities. One theory is that Jiang Nan will be the guardian of the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon. In Marvel Comics, this is the place in China where Fin Fang Foom sleeps. For hundreds of years, a group of Chinese warriors who understood how dangerous the creature was took it upon themselves to guard the area and keep him from being woken up by outsiders. It may be that in the MCU, one of these people is Michelle Yeoh’s Jiang Nan. She could be a descendant of the group that guarded him in ancient times. Having such a huge responsibility may be why she knows martial arts.
If the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the Mandarin already has his hands on the ten rings, it may be that he’ll be led to Fin Fang Foom in a way that’s not unlike what occurred in the comic books. Through the rings and perhaps the ship they came from, Mandarin could have access to all sorts of knowledge related to Fin Fang Foom’s species. That information could include details on Fin Fang Foom himself, his current whereabouts, and the secret to waking him up. In the comics, he had to bring the dragon out of his slumber with a particular herb. Alternatively, Mandarin could simply wake up the beast when he finds the rings on the ship.
The Mandarin could believe that Fin Fang Foom’s power is the key to achieving his goal of world domination. With the dragon by his side, he could lead the Ten Rings organization to glory. In order to stop him, Shang-Chi may have to train with Jiang Nan and deepen his martial arts knowledge. Regardless, both villains being in the movie would surely give the Master of Kung Fu plenty of adversity to overcome in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.