Ten Rings (organization)

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Ten Rings
Ten Rings logo
UniverseMarvel Cinematic Universe
First appearanceIron Man (2008)
In-universe information
TypeCriminal organization
Foundedc. 1000 AD
Defunct1996–2007
AddressTen Rings Headquarters, China
Leader
  • Xu Wenwu
    (1000–1996, 2007–2024)
  • Xu Xialing (2024–present)
Key peopleCurrently:
Xu Shang-Chi
Technologies
Affiliations
Ta Lo

The Ten Rings is a fictional organization in the

ten rings. An original creation for the MCU, the group's name is an homage to the Mandarin's ten cosmic rings in the Marvel Comics.[1]

The organization appears in the films Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), Ant-Man (2015), and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021); as well as the One-Shot All Hail the King (2014) and the miniseries Ms. Marvel (2022). The Ten Rings were later integrated into the mainstream Marvel Universe.[2]

Fictional organization history

Origin

Thousands of years ago, Xu Wenwu finds the

Death Dealer
; Xialing is forbidden from training due to her reminding Wenwu too much of Li. When Shang-Chi is 14, Wenwu dispatches him to kill the Iron Gang's leader and avenge Li. Despite his success, Shang-Chi is traumatized by the ordeal and abandons the Ten Rings, with Xialing following afterwards six years later.

Dealing with Iron Man

In 2010,

Yinsen build a prototype suit of powered armor
to aid in their escape. The Ten Rings learns of their plans and attacks their workshop; Yinsen sacrifices himself to save Stark, who uses his armor to defeat his captors and destroy their weapons.

Despite this setback, the Ten Rings continues working with Stane, eventually purchasing Jericho missiles to attack multiple villages, including Yinsen's home village of Gulmira. Stark dons a sleeker, more powerful version of his improvised armor suit and flies to Afghanistan, where he saves the villagers from the Ten Rings. Meanwhile, Raza and his men are able to salvage the remains of Stark's prototype suit and meet with Stane. He double crosses Raza and has the entire cell killed by his mercenaries, taking the prototype armor for himself.

Shortly after Stark publicly reveals his identity as Iron Man, the Ten Rings helps arrange for

Ivan Vanko to travel to Monaco
to take revenge on Stark.

Copycat attacks

In 2012, in an effort to cover up explosions triggered by soldiers subjected to the

Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) hire English actor Trevor Slattery
to portray Wenwu in propaganda videos that are broadcast to the world where he and the Ten Rings claim credit for the explosions. Possessing limited knowledge of Wenwu's history and basing it only on legends of the man, Killian creates the persona of "the Mandarin" for Slattery, and even uses the title for himself; Slattery is completely oblivious to the true meaning of his actions, believing he is only starring in a movie.

Wenwu is outraged over the appropriation of his image and organization; with Killian dead due to Stark's actions, Wenwu sends Ten Rings agent

court jester
" to entertain him and the Ten Rings.

Meeting with Darren Cross

In 2015, when

Darren Cross attempts to sell the Yellowjacket and Ant-Man suits, the Ten Rings sends one of its agents as a buyer. The plot is foiled by Scott Lang
.

Ten Rings' next plot

In 2024, Wenwu begins hearing Li's voice, telling him she is trapped in Ta Lo. Wenwu sends the Ten Rings to take the pendants that Li had gifted his children, Shang-Chi and Xialing.

Katy
to the Ten Rings compound.

Once there, he explains Li's predicament and uses her two pendants to create a map that reveals the location and time to enter Ta Lo. After revealing some of his son's history to Katy, Wenwu reveals his plans to destroy the village after freeing Li. He then imprisons his children and Katy when they refuse to go through with his plan. The three later escape the compound with Slattery and his hundun companion Morris to warn Ta Lo of the Ten Rings. Instead of giving chase, Wenwu decides to wait until the planned date to invade Ta Lo.

Battle of Ta Lo

Wenwu and the Ten Rings arrive in Ta Lo to destroy the seal holding his wife, prompting a battle between the Ten Rings and the village inhabitants. Guided by Li's voice, Wenwu begins breaking the seal holding her in Ta Lo; unbeknownst to him, he is being manipulated by the

Dweller-in-Darkness
, who is using Li's voice to trick him into destroying its seal with his ten rings. Upon discovering that their weapons are useless against the Dweller and his minions, with one of these minions killing Death Dealer, the Ten Rings forms a truce with the villagers to fight the new threat. Meanwhile, Wenwu eventually realizes his mistake and sacrifices himself to save Shang-Chi from the Dweller by bequeathing him the ten rings, which Shang-Chi uses to destroy the Dweller. After the battle, the surviving Ten Rings members and villagers join together to honor the fallen in a paper lantern ceremony. Xialing is advised by Shang-Chi to disband the Ten Rings.

Restructuring

Following Wenwu's death, Xialing goes against Shang-Chi's advice takes up leadership of the Ten Rings which she restructures to include female fighters in the previously all-male organization.

Alternate versions

Two alternate versions of the Ten Rings appear in the animated series What If...?

Thwarted by Killmonger

In an alternate 2010, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens saves Tony Stark when the Ten Rings attacks his military convoy in Afghanistan. Having previously infiltrated the Ten Rings, Killmonger uses his intel from his time within the organization to expose Obadiah Stane's involvement in the attack, leading to his arrest.

Alliance with Hela

In an alternate universe,

Hela is banished to Earth in medieval China by Odin for her bloodlust and stripped of her crown and powers. Wenwu tries unsuccessfully to recruit Hela into the Ten Rings and she escapes after failing to steal his rings. Later, Odin attacks the Ten Rings, but Hela comes to their rescue after having had a change of heart while in the mystical realm of Ta Lo and defeats Odin, earning back her crown and the throne of Asgard. The armies of Asgard and the Ten Rings subsequently band together to form an empire of liberators to ensure freedom in the Nine Realms and beyond. This combined force later comes to the rescue of Gamora's people as Thanos
prepares to slaughter them.

Imprisoned by Doctor Strange

The Xu Wenwu and Ten Rings of another alternate universe are amongst those abducted by Doctor Strange Supreme and imprisoned. Released by Captain Carter, they take part in the battle amongst the released prisoners with Wenwu briefly fighting the Black Panther Killmonger. Before being returned to his own universe, Wenwu gives Kahhori his rings to fight Doctor Strange with.

Concept and creation

Iron Man's Marvel Comics premiere in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963) was a collaboration between editor and story-plotter Stan Lee, scriptwriter Larry Lieber, story-artist Don Heck, and cover-artist and character-designer Jack Kirby. In his origin story, wealthy industrialist Tony Stark is injured and taken prisoner by hostile forces in war torn Vietnam, but escapes his captors after building and donning a suit of powered armor.[4] Due to the floating timeline of the Marvel Universe, the writers have updated the setting in which Stark is injured and builds his armor. In the original 1963 story, it was the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, it was updated to be the first Gulf War,[5] and in the 2000s it was updated again to be the war in Afghanistan.

Screenwriter

Stark Industries, with the Mandarin eventually drilling a hole underneath Stark Industries to steal all of Stark's technology for himself; associate producer Jeremy Latchman described that story as "crazy terrible" and "underwhelming".[9] Favreau felt only in a sequel, with an altered tone, would the fantasy of the Mandarin's rings be appropriate.[8] The decision to push him into the background is comparable to Sauron in The Lord of the Rings,[10] or Palpatine in Star Wars.[8] Due to the Iron Man films' setting of Afghanistan, the Ten Rings is depicted as a Middle Eastern terrorist group; the group's logo consists of ten interlocking rings adorned with Mongolian script, an easter egg referencing the Mandarin's claim of being descended from Genghis Khan in the comics. Following complaints from the Mongolian government of the language's usage being linked with terrorism after the release of Iron Man 3 (2013), Marvel issued an apology. Subsequent depictions of the Ten Rings dropped connotations with Middle Eastern terrorism and the organization's members were redesigned to resemble those of a modern clandestine criminal organization.[11]

At Marvel Studios'

Wenwu" was revealed by Feige during Disney Investor Day in December 2019.[13] Due to Leung's casting and the decision to make Shang-Chi the son of the Mandarin rather than Fu Manchu (later renamed Zheng Zu), the Ten Rings was completely redesigned to have a Chinese theme, with its members closely resembling those of Si-Fan, the criminal organization that Shang-Chi's father leads in the Master of Kung Fu series.[14] The Ten Rings logo was updated from Mongolian script to "inoffensive" Chinese characters that are synonyms for strength or power written in ancient seal script.[15]

In Shang-Chi, Wenwu also refers to himself as "Master Khan", a pseudonym used in the main canon.[16] This is a possible allusion to the idea that Wenwu is Genghis Khan himself.[17][18] In Iron Man (2008), Raza also mentions the empire of Genghis Khan.[19][18]

Marvel Comics

Ten Rings
Publication information
Midnight's Fire

Eclipse
Dune

Following its appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Ten Rings organization was incorporated into Marvel Comics. The organization's existence was teased in Ironheart #1 (November 2018) by writer Eve Ewing and artists Kevin Libranda, Geoffo and Luciano Vecchio, and it made its official comic debut in the following issue. Unlike the films, the organization in the comics is unrelated to the Mandarin.

The Ten Rings is a secret society that builds its principles around the Wellspring of Power. Ironheart becomes its first target when she is ambushed by two assassins that are empowered by the Wellspring of Power. They want Ironheart to give in to her power only so she would attack them. They vanish after the fight.[20]

The Ten Rings sends

Midnight's Fire to fight Ironheart to see if she is worthy of joining them.[21] During her fight with Midnight's Fire, Ironheart learns that the Ten Rings is a terrorist organization whose ways of covert actions cause some people to believe that it is a myth. Midnight's Fire describes his history to Ironheart and tries to get her to join up with the organization. She turns him down and their fight continues.[22] The Ten Rings is responsible for getting Councilman Thomas Birch elected as the Governor of Illinois. In order to make himself look good for Birch's election, Midnight's Fire has some children commit crimes. When Ironheart shows up to stop the Ten Rings, Midnight's Fire fights her and is defeated. Then Midnight's Fire and Birch are arrested by the authorities.[23]

The Ten Rings dispatches its operative Eclipse to Chicago so that she can perform a magical rite that will transform its citizens into zombies. Ironheart and Wasp disrupt the ritual at O'Hare International Airport, but Eclipse teleports away.[24]

Ironheart later discovers that her father Demetrius "Riri" Williams had faked his death in a gas station robbery gone wrong and joined the Ten Rings, where he somehow develops geokinesis.[25]

Other versions

Secret Wars (2015)

In

K'un-L'un region of Battleworld. The Ten Rings has the highest authority in K'un-L'un due to its master, Emperor Zheng Zu, winning the Thirteen Chambers tournament for almost 100 years. The Ten Rings is the sworn enemy of the Iron Fist school and its members have the ability to use ten martial arts techniques based on the Mandarin's rings.[26]

In other media

Television

In the animated series

Chinese immigrants in the United States.[29]

Board games

In the Secret Wars Volume 2 for Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game, there is an adaptation of the Battleworld version of Zheng Zu as Emperor of K'un-Lun and the Ten Rings school. The emperor's name is spelled Zheng Zhu.

References

  1. ^ a b "Live chat with Jon Favreau today at 11am Pacific Time". Los Angeles Times. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  2. ^ "A Major MCU Supervillain Group Just Made the Jump to Comics". Comic Book Resources. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  3. ^ Staff, Banner (2021-10-06). "Shang-Chi Has More Hits Than Misses". The Banner Newspaper. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  4. . Set against the background of the Vietnam War, Iron Man signaled the end of Marvel's monster/suspense line when he debuted in Tales of Suspense #39...[Stan] Lee discussed the general outline for Iron Man with Larry Lieber, who later wrote a full script for the origin story. Don Heck...designed the new character."
  5. ^ Lewis, A. David (January 2008). "Graphic Responses: Comic Book Superheroes' Militarism Post 9/11". Americana: The Institute for the Study of American Popular Culture. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  6. ^ Ferrante, Anthony C. (February 15, 2007). "Exclusive TV Interview: Alfred Gough Talks Smallville, Iron Man and The Mummy – Part 3". IfMagazine.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
  7. ^ Johnston, Rich (May 6, 2008). "Lying in the Gutters Volume 2 Column 156". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c Worley, Rob M. (September 8, 2007). "Iron Man: Favreau on films, fans, and Fin Fang Foom". Comics2Film. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  9. .
  10. ^ Vespe, Eric (July 28, 2007). "Quint goes one on one with Jon Favreau about IRON MAN at Comic-Con!!!". Ain't It Cool News. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  11. ^ Robinson, Joanna (April 19, 2021). "Shang-Chi and Marvel's Complicated History With the Ten Rings". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Kit, Borys; Galuppo, Mia (July 20, 2019). "Marvel Finds Its Shang-Chi with Chinese-Canadian Actor Simu Liu". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  13. Marvel.com. Archived
    from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  14. ^ Dutta, Shubhabrata (2021-08-24). "Shang-Chi: How The Yakuza And Triads Can Change The Game". DKODING. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  15. ^ Davis, Rebecca (2021-08-19). "'Shang-Chi's' Ten Rings Logo Controversy Comes Full Circle". Variety. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  16. .
  17. ^ "Every MCU Easter Egg In Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings". Screen Rant. 2021-09-04. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  18. ^ a b Newby, Richard (2019-07-24). "Marvel's 'Shang-Chi' Villain Has Been Hiding Longer Than Thanos". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  19. ^ Wigler, Josh. "'Iron Man' Villain Faran Tahir Ponders 'Iron Man 3' Return... As The Mandarin?". MTV News. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  20. ^ Ironheart #2. Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ Ironheart #3. Marvel Comics.
  22. ^ Ironheart #4. Marvel Comics.
  23. ^ Ironheart #5. Marvel Comics.
  24. ^ Ironheart #7. Marvel Comics.
  25. ^ Ironheart #10–11. Marvel Comics.
  26. ^ Master of Kung Fu vol. 2 #1–4. Marvel Comics.
  27. ^ Clough, Rob (2021-04-22). "The Untold Truth Of The Mandarin". Looper.com. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  28. ^ "ABC3 Television Guide - Iron Man: Armored Adventures - Tales Of Suspense: Part 1". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  29. ^ Peter Huston. Tongs, Gangs, and Triads: Chinese Crime Groups in North America (1995) Paladin Press, Boulder CO

External links