The red carpet premiere event for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings confirms Ben Kingsley's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kingsley made his debut in the franchise with Iron Man 3, in which he claimed to be the Mandarin and behind a number of terrorist attacks across the U.S. It would ultimately be discovered that he was a British actor named Trevor Slattery hired by Aldrich Killian to portray The Mandarin while the virus-powered villain elected to don the mantle himself.
Kingsley would briefly return to the MCU for the short film All Hail the King, in which Slattery is locked in Seagate Prison and interviewed by documentary filmmaker Jackson Norriss, who reveals himself to be a member of the Ten Rings organization and says he will break Slattery out in order to have him meet the real Mandarin. After spending nearly two decades in development hell, the real Mandarin will be making his proper big screen debut with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings with Tony Leung portraying the leader of the villainous organization and father to the titular hero. Given the character's complicated past in the MCU, many have wondered how the film would address the events of Iron Man 3 and new word confirms the story won't ignore the past.
This week saw the red carpet premiere for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Los Angeles, with the cast and crew appearing at the event. During the proceedings, many began noticing Kingsley's appearance on the carpet, leading to speculation that he could be in the film. During the premiere event, studio executives confirmed to those in attendance, including Screen Rant's own Joe Deckelmeier, that Kingsley is indeed returning as Slattery in Shang-Chi.
With seven years having passed since Kingsley's Slattery was last seen in All Hail the King, his existence or the truth behind his character in the MCU has been largely forgotten by many fans. When Shang-Chi was first announced to be in development with The Mandarin serving as the villain, debates quickly sparked back up about whether this would establish a need to bring the Oscar winner back into the fold. Given the cliffhanger ending of the short film set up a confrontation between Slattery and the real Mandarin, the general assumption amongst fans became that Kingsley would return in some capacity.
Though some may have wanted to wait for the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to learn of Kingsley's return, it should still come as an exciting draw for fans. With so much of the titular organization tied into both the Iron Man trilogy and MCU as a whole, Kingsley's reprisal of Slattery would prove an effective way of tying up loose ends and establishing the film's place in the universe. Only time will tell what Kingsley's return brings to the table when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hits theaters on September 3.
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