Marvel’s All Hail the King One-Shot is now available on Disney+, and the short plays a major role in setting up Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Released as a special feature on Thor: The Dark World‘s Blu-Ray, All Hail the King is a continuation of Trevor Slattery’s story. The thirteen-minute short brought Ben Kingsley back to play the in-universe actor who acted like the Mandarin as part of Aldrich Killian’s plan. It is widely viewed as Marvel’s attempt to course-correct after the negative response to Iron Man 3‘s Mandarin twist.

All Hail the King features a documentary filmmaker known as Jackson Norris (Scoot McNairy) as he visits Seagate Prison to interview Trevor Slattery. The short provides a fun look at Slattery’s attempt to be a TV star and even features a cameo by Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) at the end. All Hail the King also included the revelation that Jackson Norris actually was a member of the Ten Rings, the criminal empire Slattery faked being in charge of. It reveals that he’s not there to interview Trevor really. Jackson breaks him out of prison with the tease that a meeting with the real Mandarin is in his future.

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The establishment of the real Mandarin in the MCU wasn’t touched for years, but now Shang-Chi is positioned to build off this setup with the debut of Wenwu (Tony Leung). Marvel Studios confirmed the introduction of the real Mandarin right when Shang-Chi was announced. The Marvel Cinematic Universe originally teased fans with the debut of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. However, the Trevor Slattery twist proved problematic and incredibly divisive, as many fans were upset that the powerful comic villain wasn’t actually included. All Hail the King only offered a tease that the real Mandarin exists in the MCU, but it will be in Shang-Chi that he finally is featured properly.

Shang-Chi is putting a fresh spin on the Mandarin while still staying true to the best parts of his comic story. The movie will explain how Wenwu built the Ten Rings empire and show him as the master of the powerful and redesigned ten rings. He’s also now the father of Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and has seemingly been around for hundreds of years based on some footage. Marvel’s decision to add All Hail the King to Disney+ right before Shang-Chi‘s theatrical release is no coincidence, as it now gives subscribers a chance to see a small piece of setup for the villain’s debut.

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There’s also the chance that All Hail the King sets up even more of Shang-Chi. The presence of the Mandarin and All Hail the King‘s ending led many fans to theorize this movie could be where Trevor Slattery returns. Ben Kingsley’s presence at the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premiere further points to the likelihood of that possibility. If Trevor Slattery does appear, All Hail the King‘s importance will only grow, as the short explains he was taken from prison to meet the man he made a mockery of.

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Cooper Hood
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Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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