Just how many future setups are created by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? The more we got into the movie the more questions we had. It’s an origin story but It is also the third movie in MCU’s phase IV so it has a lot of responsibility to set up future projects. The MCU is nothing without its setups. Sometimes I prefer to compare it to building anticipation. That is what Marvel does, they create so much hype that it no longer matters whether the project is actually good or not. But I digress, Shang-Chi was an amazing movie but it left us with a big question. What are the Ten Rings? Where do they come from? Well, dear reader, we at Quirkybyte believe we know the answer. Read on to find out how the Ten Rings could connect to Eternals.
The MCU just expanded to a whole other genre of action. They now proudly welcome the ancient art of Chinese Kenpo to their roster with the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. We have stars like Simu Liu and Tony Leung, all well established in their own fields of work, celebrated rock stars in their own right. You can’t go wrong with talent like that in a story about the protection of the realm against dark forces.
The movie had heart, representation, and was an awe-inspiring visual treat. We could not hold our laughter in someplace and others ripped our heart right out of our chest. Mostly because the titular Ten Ri gs awed us with their seemingly limitless power. They are unknown artifacts that act as the centerpiece for the film but somehow the writers sidestep us in explaining their origin.
The Deception
I suppose the reason for sidestepping it at the start of the movie is to make sure that the audience knows what the devices are capable of before a conflict is created around them. Anticipation, Marvel’s strongest weapon. The Ten Rings have been teased in the MCU since the first Iron Man movie and now that we finally got to see them in action we got a very different version than that in the comics. The Mandarin finds the Ten Rings in the comic in a spaceship full of aliens and takes them as his own to try to conquer the world. On the other Wenwu finds the rings in an unknown place and creates a shadow organization around them research of power and riches.
Marvel wanted us to think that the movie would be about the Ten Rings but it was actually about what these things could do. Wenwu found them a thousand years ago and just had them ever since. They made him susceptible to the mind control of the Dark Dweller and his minions. Wenwu used his powerful weapon to break them free, which was because the Dark Dweller deceived him, much like Marvel deceived their audiences. The Ten Rings did their job but not before they were misappropriated by Shang-Chi, taken from his father, and discarded out of pacification in hope for reconciliation.
But not before they triggered something sinister, Wong appeared at the end of the movie to ask Shang-Chi to come with him, presumably to the library on Kamar-Taj. The reason for this field trip is only made clear in the mid-credits scene, as Wong zooms in on the beacon in the rings. Now they might not know what the beacon is but we have a solid idea.
The Realisation
We think that the beacon is a sign representing convergence. Seeing as Eternals is the next movie on the roster of MCU, it makes sense that there will be a connection to Shang-Chi. One proof of it can be found in the after-credits scene when Banner tells us that the rings are a lot older than just 1000 years. We believe that the rings are an ancient form of Eternal technology that lets them manipulate dimensional energy. This would also explain how they were powerful enough to break through dragon scales and defeat the Dark Dweller.
When the rings were activated by Shang-Chi they reached a level of power they never had in the hands of Wenwu and they detected the convergence for the first time. This would make sense in the larger narrative of the MCU. But we would like to know what you think about the entire movie? Do you think the Ten Rings Could Connect to Eternals? Let us know in the comments below and keep watching this space for everything Marvel, DC and Hollywood.
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