Why Shang-Chi Changed Trevor Slattery’s Accent

Trevor Slattery had shed his American accent when not impersonating the Mandarin, and his accent changed again in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Many Marvel fans were upset by what they considered to be a misuse of the Mandarin character in Iron Man 3. Two different versions of the character appeared in the film: Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) pretended to be the leader of the Ten Rings with a thick American accent, and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) was originally meant to be the real one. Aldrich’s dragon chest tattoos seemed to confirm this.

The All Hail the King Marvel One-Shot, released independently on Disney+ in anticipation of Shang-Chi’s premiere, retconned Aldrich’s claim. This Marvel short revealed there was a real Mandarin still out there, and the Shang-Chi movie unveiled his identity. The actual leader of the Ten Rings, Wenwu (Tony Leung), abducted Trevor as retaliation for the actor appropriating his name. Far from the initially fearsome veneer he put forth in Iron Man 3, Trevor mainly served as comic relief in Shang-Chi, and his presence in the movie attempted to correct complaints about his past appearances.

When posing as the Mandarin, Trevor’s comically thick American accent suggested he was a foreigner who had watched an awful lot of Hollywood movies, particularly Westerns, while growing up. Trevor shed this accent when not impersonating the Mandarin, and his true persona was meant to highlight the problems with stereotyping. Yet, his natural British accent, though pronounced, was still more subtle throughout Iron Man 3 and the One-Shot that took place directly after than in Shang-Chi. In Shang-Chi, this accent became much more pronounced to further separate the character from his past.

Shang-Chi was very aware of the poor reception of the Iron Man 3 Mandarin twist, and the issues with one of Marvel’s most prominent Asian characters being played by two white men. Wenwu mocked the Mandarin name and its history for terrifying the American people, obliquely referencing the “yellow scare” trope that’s so prominent in Western pop culture. Trevor also critiqued his part in the scheme, calling the persona an unflattering interpretation of Wenwu. With these two moments, the MCU subverted its history with the Mandarin, rehabilitating both the actual character and Trevor Slattery.

Another, more practical, explanation for the accent change could be Trevor’s isolation. He had spent some time in the U.S. to pursue acting, but after his arrest and subsequent kidnapping by the Ten Rings, Trevor had been imprisoned in the real Mandarin’s compound. Since he was no longer living among Americans, it makes sense for Trevor’s accent to sound less American over time. Accents sometimes change to reflect a person’s immersion in a particular culture, and Trevor’s almost constant isolation prevented him from being influenced by anyone else. As a result, he resorted to his native accent.

Trevor Slattery changed his accent for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to better distinguish this version of the character from his past. Kingsley’s Trevor was one of the only characters in the movie not of East Asian descent and he plays the sidekick role that Asian actors have historically been assigned in Hollywood. Trevor’s small part in the film added another level of humor to an already solid movie. After the poorly executed Iron Man 3 twist, it’s surprising that it would be fun to see Trevor Slattery in the MCU again one day.

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