Dave Callaham, a writer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, discusses how they knew that Trevor Slattery, the fake Madarin, would appear.

Dave Callaham, a writer for Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has recently discussed how early the writing team knew that Trevor Slattery/the fake Mandarin (played by Ben Kingsley) would appear in the movie. Shang-Chi released in September to critical and financial success. It recently became the first film in the COVID-19 era to cross the $200 million mark domestically, with its worldwide total nearing $370 million, making it the highest-grossing movie domestically so far this year. This was Marvel Studios’ 25th theatrical release, and they have no plans on slowing down with their movie and Disney+ show releases.

The Mandarin is a popular Iron Man villain, so fans were excited to hear that he would appear as the main antagonist in Iron Man 3. However, there was a twist to the character, and the real Mandarin never made an appearance. Rather, he was actually an actor named Trevor Slattery approached by the true villain, Aldrich Killian, to pose as the Mandarin. In the short All Hail the King, it is revealed that Wenwu, the real Mandarin (who appears in Shang-Chi and played by Tony Leung), is mad at Slattery and captures him from prison. Slattery then makes an appearance in Shang-Chi and has a surprising amount of screen time, becoming a side character.

Related: How Marvel Making Shang-Chi The Mandarin’s Son Changes His Story

In an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment! (via Comicbook), writer Dave Callaham talked about including Trevor Slattery in the movie. Callaham explained that they knew early in the process that they wanted to include Trevor in the film and that the writers loved Kingsley’s character. Check out Callaham’s full comment below:

“I will say I feel pretty confident saying we knew pretty early on that we’d like to make that attempt to get Trevor into the movie. I remember that being a pretty early idea because we love the character but also because when we looked at what we knew we had to accomplish in terms of a character that in some way reflects the Mandarin.”

Fans had been wondering if Trevor Slattery would appear in the MCU again, and showing up in Shang-Chi made the most sense. Since Wenwu had him captured in the short, it was clear that Slattery was either dead or in Wenwu’s custody. It’s unknown if Marvel has had plans since All Hail the King to bring Slattery back, but based on Callaham’s comments, it sounds like including Kingsley was at least talked about since the first draft of the movie. His appearance also addressed some of the backlash that the character got in Iron Man 3, as Wenwu discusses how much the Mandarin name and Slattery annoyed him.

Regardless of the opinion that fans may have of the fake Mandarin, it is exciting to see that Marvel Studios is still actively finding exciting ways to connect their films to each other. Having Hulk and Captain Marvel show up in the movie’s post-credits scene sets up connections to future MCU projects, but bringing the fake Mandarin back was a good way to connect to older and more divisive storylines. There’s no telling if Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was the last time Slattery will show up on screen, but resolving his storyline may have eased the pain for those who still felt betrayed by the twist in Iron Man 3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is playing in theaters now and will hit Disney+ on November 12.

Next: Shang-Chi Confirms Marvel Won’t Make Iron Man 3’S Mistake Twice

Source: Yahoo! Entertainment! (via Comicbook)

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