I wrote this movie rewrite document in 2021 for funsies, because I really enjoyed the Shang-Chi movie and wished that it could've been better. Now it is 2024, and I still agree with almost everything I wrote back then. So, here you go. I am not editing this at all, simply posting it for the world to see.
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I loved watching Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in an actual movie theater. I loved the action, the comedic moments, the emotion, and I loved Wenwu / "the Mandarin" as the villain and father of the main character.
But just because I enjoyed the movie doesn't mean that I can't see its flaws. What can the Rings do? Everything. What can the Rings (as in the organization) do? Everything. Why do their people wield energy crossbows? Who knows. Why does Ta Lo have a somewhat dated culture when their realm supposedly once housed mega-civilizations greater than anything on Earth? Who knows. What even is the Great Protector and what does it have to do with anything in the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse? WHO KNOWS.
And that's why I'm writing this.
I love this movie - and that's why I'm willing to take time out of my day to rework it in a way that simplifies the story, removes or ties up loose threads, and maintains (at the very least) a sense of internal consistency.
Part One
Let's start where the movie does: in the past. But rather than beginning a thousand years before the plot picks up, we're only jumping back a few decades. Welcome to China - it's 1993, and a young man named Wenwu is serving as cheap labor in a construction project. Through some accident on-site, he finds himself trapped in an ancient tomb dating back to the final years of the Shang dynasty. He explores the tomb, discovering the Ten Rings in a sarcophagus / coffin with the last ruler of the Shang dynasty - the Rings literally rip themselves free from the corpse and attach to Wenwu's arms soon after he opens the coffin, with their removal triggering an earthquake that threatens to destroy the entire tomb with him inside. This is where Wenwu learns the power of the Rings: the ability to repel and attract objects at will. He uses this to escape the tomb, finally arriving back at the surface and realizing the power that the Rings provide him.
Time skips forward to 1996; Wenwu used the Rings to get revenge against those who wronged him and his family in the past, becoming the ruthless leader of a small group known as the Ten Rings - at the time, they were little more than well-trained mercenaries working under his guidance. But throughout the years, he'd also spent much of his time searching for answers about the Rings. Upon learning of a Chinese village high in the mountains with a connection to the Rings and the Shang dynasty, he set out immediately. This part is essentially the same as in the original movie - Wenwu goes on a dangerous path to the village, gets blocked by the warrior woman, falls in love with her and they both give up everything for the chance at a happy life together. Wenwu gives up the Ten Rings, disbanding the group - but the name and logo are later reused by a terrorist cell in the Middle East, which is how this ties into Iron Man 1, 2 and 3.
**Note: The story behind Wenwu meeting his wife is not shown in this movie as it doesn't impact the story, but could be shown in a sequel.**
The couple live happily for around thirteen years, having two children (a boy and a girl) and living relatively normal lives. One of Wenwu's old enemies broke into their home in 2006, killed his wife, and then Wenwu retreated internally for the next seven years. He sent his two children to an old ally of his to be raised and cared for in ways that he no longer believed he could provide, leading to Shang-Chi and his sister Xialing being brought up as expert martial artists by Death Dealer for most of their early lives. Shang-Chi ran away at age 14, his sister got bitter that he never returned for her and ran away when she reached 16, and this whole time their father was basically just wallowing in self-pity. That is, until 2013.
Wenwu knew about the Ten Rings and their actions throughout the Iron Man films, but for the longest time he couldn't bring himself to care - though upon hearing of his son's flight from Death Dealer, something inside him clicked. He retook control of the leaderless Ten Rings by force, making Razorfist one of his two lieutenants alongside Death Dealer - who at this point was only caring for Xialing - and firmly asserted himself as the true "Mandarin" of the Ten Rings.
In the present day of 2023, Shang-Chi (now going by the name Shaun) lives in a post-Blip world as a San Francisco valet. This part of the movie is the same, minus the bit about finding the pendants - the Ten Rings attack Shaun to get him on the ropes, leading him to find his sister using the postcard and go through cage matches in her fight club. The club is attacked by the Ten Rings (not wielding energy weapons, just a bunch of skilled martial artists and normal weapons) and the scenes play out mostly the same, culminating in a fight between Shaun and Razorfist - this time, he wasn't on the bus and this is their first encounter. Shaun nearly wins against him, only to be stopped by the appearance of Wenwu just like in the original movie. The group of heroes is taken to the Ten Rings compound, and the plot thickens.
Part Two
Wenwu goes through essentially the same monologue about missing his family and the tragedy of his wife's death and how he returned the Ten Rings to their original state - they're no longer an ancient shadowy assassin government thing, and they never really were; they're just a highly-skilled fighter clan working for Wenwu. He also reveals the real reason he brought his children here after all these years: he's holding a tournament between the best fighters that the world has to offer. The winner receives the Ten Rings (both the objects and the organization) as a reward, while the losers are killed. And Wenwu wants Shaun to be the winner.
The rest of this middle section is more or less similar to a sports movie - different matches and challenges ensue, a few close calls and near-misses, but Shaun manages to survive pretty far (though Xialing isn't allowed to participate in the tournament by Wenwu). They start catching wind of something being off with their father over time, with all the rumors culminating in a secret visit from Death Dealer on the night before the match between him and Shaun. Death Dealer explains that despite his loyalty to Shaun and Xialing's father, he no longer believes that the man in charge of the tournament is actually Wenwu. Small details and inconsistencies are brought up, before Death Dealer finally reveals to the siblings that despite the harsh nature of their childhood, he did care about them - and he still does. He tells Shaun to not hold back in their fight, and that if he's going to die, this is the way he'd like to do it.
The fight ensues the next day - the fight is cool, calculated, and evenly matched between the two combatants, but Shaun eventually gets Death Dealer to the point of nearly killing him. He doesn't want to go through with it, but Death Dealer encourages him and says some sappy honorable shit before dying by Shaun's hand. As the group suspected, Wenwu has almost zero reaction to one of his closest friends dying, reaffirming that something is very wrong.
Part Three
The final fight is between Shaun and his father. It's a few days after the Death Dealer fight, allowing time for the hero group to investigate their father and discover that he'd learned a magic spell that could nullify the Rings' powers - Shaun devises a plan for the fight using this knowledge, setting the pieces in motion.
The Wenwu and Shaun fight is different from the Death Dealer fight - Wenwu is much more aggressive and abrasive, focused heavily on hitting harder rather than hitting precisely. As the right begins to turn in Wenwu's favor, Wong (who is either a part of the tournament or was brought in to help with this part) uses the spell to depower the Rings temporarily. This causes the biggest reveal of the movie: the Rings fall off Wenwu as he transforms from a human into a massive dragon, breaking through the surrounding walls and expressing rage at his facade being broken. This is in fact not Wenwu, but an extradimensional being known as Fing Fang Foom - the original wielder of the Ten Rings. The tournament devolves into a free for all as some people attempt to fight this massive rage monster while others attempt to flee; Shaun fights with his allies against it, never able to get an upper hand for long before getting pushed back. When all seems lost though, Xialing attacks from where the dragon least expects it with an ancient blade she found in her father's belongings - it's a material not known to this universe, crafted from the scales of a dragon of Fing Fang Foom's species. The blade pierces the dragon's hide, slicing directly into its heart and killing it.
In the aftermath, many questions arise. The Rings regain their power soon after the fight, and Shaun and the others ponder what to do with them. But that's when Xialing catches everyone off guard - since she dealt the killing blow to the final contestant, the tournament holder, she thereby won the tournament and gained the right to wield the Ten Rings and command her father's organization. Shaun and the rest of the heroes leave the compound with a slightly bittersweet feeling in their mouths; but with Xialing promising peace and the defeat of the extradimensional dragon, the obvious next question is "What about the real Wenwu?"
And that's for the sequel.
The plot of this movie may be drastically different, but I would want many of the original movie's emotional beats to remain the same (though altered to account for the story changes). Shaun still has to face his past, his father's legacy, the death of his mother and the abandonment of his sister, while also wondering where his new life with Katy and San Francisco fit in. Katy still explores her personal path in life, trying to find her place in the world and somewhat succeeding in gaining clarity by the end, while there's a much heavier focus on the relationship between the siblings and Death Dealer. The relationship with their father and mother would be center stage for the sequel rather than in this one.
The post-credit scene for this version of the movie would be Shaun finally learning the name of his mother's village, realizing that the village holds the key to both his father's disappearance and the origin of the Rings themselves. The scene would end with someone saying the words "Ta Lo" and then the movie would be over.
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