Overview
All Hail the King is a 2014 American direct-to-video short film featuring the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) character Trevor Slattery, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. It is a follow-up and spin-off of Iron Man 3 (2013), and is the fifth Marvel One-Shot short film set in the MCU, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The film is written and directed by Drew Pearce, and stars Ben Kingsley as Slattery, alongside Scoot McNairy, Lester Speight, and Sam Rockwell. In All Hail the King, a documentary filmmaker (McNairy) interviews the infamous fake terrorist Trevor Slattery while in jail.
Development for a One-Shot centered on Slattery began during production of Iron Man 3, with Pearce eventually conceiving an idea contingent on Kingsley willing to reprising his role from Iron Man 3, who was enthused to do so after reading the script. Filming occurred in Los Angeles over three days, with Pearce later flying to Canada to film Rockwell's cameo as Justin Hammer, reprising the role from Iron Man 2 (2010).
All Hail the King was released digitally and on the home media release of Thor: The Dark World (2013) in February 2014 and was positively received. The story of Slattery, the Mandarin, and the Ten Rings is continued in the film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
Plot
Trevor Slattery, an inmate at Seagate Prison, is living with his own personal "butler" Herman, and other inmates acting as his fan club and protection. Slattery is interviewed by documentary filmmaker Jackson Norriss, who wishes to chronicle the events of the Mandarin situation. Norriss, trying to learn more about Slattery personally, recounts his past from his first casting as a child as well as his starring in the failed CBS pilot Caged Heat. Norriss eventually informs Slattery that his portrayal has angered some people, including the actual Ten Rings terrorist group, which Slattery did not know existed. Norriss tells him the history of the Mandarin and the terrorist group, before revealing that he is actually a member of the group. He then pulls out a gun and kills the guards and Herman before telling Slattery the real reason for the interview is to break him out of prison so he can meet the actual leader of the Ten Rings. Hearing this, Slattery still has no idea of the full ramifications of his posing as the Mandarin.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).