Marvel: One-Shot Short Film Debuts on Disney+ as Shang-Chi Tie-in

A Marvel Cinematic Universe one-shot has been added to Disney+ just in time for its crucial tie-in with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Disney+ has re-released Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King, which was originally included as part of the Thor: The Dark World Blu-ray release. “All Hail the King” was a pivotal little story, which is arguably the first time the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s real Mandarin, made his presence known – after Aldrich Killian and a poor little failed actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) tried to use The Mandarin’s name as a Trojan Horse for A.I.M.’s nefarious schemes in Iron Man 3.

Here’s the new synopsis for Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King‘s release on Disney+:

Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2013) is newly added and has a front-page banner ahead of Trevor Slattery’s return in Shang-Chi. The short film mentions the real Mandarin, ends with a hook for Shang-Chi, and was originally released as a special feature on the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray.

Shang-Chi is going to finally tie up one of the big loose ends in the MCU, which has been left dangling ever since the first Iron Man movie introduced the Ten Rings organization. Iron Man sparked all kinds of Marvel fan theories about how The Mandarin would eventually appear as Tony Stark’s main nemesis, just like in the comics. However, director Shane Black decided to subvert fan expectations of Marvel lore with his Iron Man 3 Trevor Slattery twist, but the cynical point Black was making about the nature of figureheads was lost on most fans.

In fact, Marvel fans had invested so much time and effort in theories about The Mandarin, the Ten Rings, and the Iron Man franchise that the backlash to Iron Man 3 was intense. It was so intense that Marvel Studios for the first time had to retcon one of its own movie developments. “All Hail the King” only exists because the MCU had to give fans at least the hope that there was a real version of The Mandarin lurking somewhere out there in the MCU. Years later, fans are finally getting what the one-shot promised.

Shang-Chi will take keep in step with Marvel Comics by re-inventing The Mandarin as something more than the racial stereotype he began as. Actor Tony Leung will play “Xu Wenwu” a version of The Mandarin that’s more complex in his family drama with Shang-Chi (a composite of The Mandarin and another Marvel villain stereotype, Fu Manchu). It’s already been confirmed that Ben Kingsley is in Shang-Chi, so clearly the events of “All Hail The King” will be addressed in that film.

Marvel One-Shot: All Hail The King is now streaming on Disney+.