I know this comment is old but ACTCHUALLY if you search for the Marvel short “All Hail the King” that is where they first set up that there was a real Mandarin who was not happy about his name being taken. That came out 1 year after Iron Man 3, so the Shang Chi thing was always the plan.
Wasn’t the whole point of The Mandarin in IM3 that he was a fake?
Yes, but until Shang-Chi, that was the MCU’s Mandarin, Potemkin or otherwise
I know this comment is old but ACTCHUALLY if you search for the Marvel short “All Hail the King” that is where they first set up that there was a real Mandarin who was not happy about his name being taken. That came out 1 year after Iron Man 3, so the Shang Chi thing was always the plan.