Many venerated Shakespearean actors have appeared in Marvel films over the years. From Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan to Kenneth Branagh, there are enough Bardian thespians in the MCU to make Hamlet weep with joy. Sir Ben Kingsley made his MCU debut in Iron Man 3. He played Trevor Slattery, an actor who was pretending to be the Mandarin, the head of the villainous Ten Rings criminal organization.
And now, Kingsley is back for a surprise appearance in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings! That movie will feature the real Mandarin, played by Tony Leung Chiuwai. When Kingsley showed up at a press conference for the movie, as Digital Spy reports, it was a surprise for everyone.
Kingley’s role in the movie isn’t clear at this point, but he spoke eloquently of his time working with the cast and the film’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton. “When you hear Destin, you know that the motives behind telling this story are pure, crystal clear, lucid, pure motives,” he said. “They are life enhancing and they’re not patronizing because they do introduce in a beautiful way, memory, ancestry, loss, and families torn apart and reunited and reconfigured…I think that this story, because it’s so beautifully told, and so rich, will ultimately be healing because it’s not propaganda. It’s just a really beautiful story.”
That’s incredibly high praise from Kingsley for Shang-Chi, which is one of the most eagerly anticipated Marvel movies in a long time.
Ben Kingsley has a personal connection with his Shang-Chi character
Kingsley also talked specifically about his character. “Trevor, of course, is a Shakespearean actor and he finds himself transported into a completely exotic environment. I have done 17 out of Shakespeare’s whole canon of plays so I’m sort of a Shakespearean actor.”
There are no details about how Trevor will fit into the story, but it sounds like Kingsley is channeling Trevor’s trademark evasiveness in his responses, and that’s pretty epic by itself.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten rings comes out in theaters on September 3.
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