Ten Rings (organization)
This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. (May 2022) |
Ten Rings | |
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Universe | Marvel Cinematic Universe |
First appearance | Iron Man (2008) |
In-universe information | |
Type | Criminal organization |
Founded | c. 1000 AD |
Defunct | 1996–2007 |
Address | Ten Rings Headquarters, China |
Leader |
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Key people | Currently: Xu Shang-Chi |
Technologies |
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Affiliations | Ta Lo |
The Ten Rings is a fictional organization in the
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
Dealing with Iron Man
In 2010,
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
Copycat attacks
In 2012, in an effort to cover up explosions triggered by soldiers subjected to the
Wenwu is outraged over the appropriation of his image and organization; with Killian dead due to Stark's actions, Wenwu sends Ten Rings agent
Meeting with Darren Cross
In 2015, when
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.
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
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,
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
At Marvel Studios'
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 | |
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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
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
In other media
Television
In the animated series
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
- ^ a b "Live chat with Jon Favreau today at 11am Pacific Time". Los Angeles Times. 2008-10-01. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "A Major MCU Supervillain Group Just Made the Jump to Comics". Comic Book Resources. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
- ^ Staff, Banner (2021-10-06). "Shang-Chi Has More Hits Than Misses". The Banner Newspaper. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ISBN 978-0756641238.
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."
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 978-1419732447.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- Marvel.com. Archivedfrom the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Davis, Rebecca (2021-08-19). "'Shang-Chi's' Ten Rings Logo Controversy Comes Full Circle". Variety. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
- ISBN 978-1-302-50753-4.
- ^ "Every MCU Easter Egg In Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings". Screen Rant. 2021-09-04. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Wigler, Josh. "'Iron Man' Villain Faran Tahir Ponders 'Iron Man 3' Return... As The Mandarin?". MTV News. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ^ Ironheart #2. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Ironheart #3. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Ironheart #4. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Ironheart #5. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Ironheart #7. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Ironheart #10–11. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Master of Kung Fu vol. 2 #1–4. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Clough, Rob (2021-04-22). "The Untold Truth Of The Mandarin". Looper.com. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
- ^ "ABC3 Television Guide - Iron Man: Armored Adventures - Tales Of Suspense: Part 1". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
- ^ Peter Huston. Tongs, Gangs, and Triads: Chinese Crime Groups in North America (1995) Paladin Press, Boulder CO
External links
- Ten Rings (Marvel Cinematic Universe) on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki
- Ten Rings (Earth-616) on Marvel Database, a Marvel Comics wiki
- Ten Rings at the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Ten Rings at Comic Vine