The Man with the Iron Fists PosterLanding in the US next weekend, RZA’s anticipated The Man with the Iron Fists is expected to be one of the best and bloodiest action films of the year, earning its R/18 rating and then some.

With its release right around the corner, a new animated short has debuted over at Machinima, giving us the prequel side story telling of the Blacksmith’s journey to China.

“Quentin Tarantino presents The Man With the Iron Fists, an action-adventure inspired by kung-fu classics as interpreted by his longtime collaborators RZA and Eli Roth. Making his debut as a big-screen director and leading man, RZA—alongside a stellar international cast led by Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu—tells the epic story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero in nineteenth-century China who must unite to destroy the clan traitor who would destroy them all.

Since his arrival in China’s Jungle Village, the town’s blacksmith (RZA) has been forced by radical tribal factions to create elaborate tools of destruction. When the clans’ brewing war boils over, the stranger channels an ancient energy to transform himself into a human weapon. As he fights alongside iconic heroes and against soulless villains, one man must harness this power to become savior of his adopted people.

Blending astonishing martial-arts sequences from some of the masters of this world with the signature vision he brings as the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan and as one of hip-hop’s most dominant figures of the past two decades, RZA embarks upon his most ambitious, stylized and thrilling project to date.”

RZA takes the lead as The Blacksmith, with a great supporting cast led by by Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Rick Yune, Jamie Chung, Cung Le, Dave Bautista, Byron Mann, Daniel Wu, and Pam Grier.

RZA is also the man behind the helm, making his directorial debut from a script he co-wrote with the great Eli Roth (Hostel, Inglourious Basterds), with Quentin Tarantino himself presenting the film – and the honours don’t come much higher than that.

The Man with the Iron Fists will be landing in the US next Friday, 2nd November, before heading to UK theatres on 7th December. We can’t wait. This looks utterly immense.

[yframe url=’www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoPkmD8RC9U’]