Shang-Chi Discussion

WARNING: Spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. For a spoiler free review, see here.

I loved Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. From it's fascinating family dynamic to incredible action sequences, it's right up there with best of Marvel Studios' films. In this post I'll be discussing the film, with a particular focus on it's connections to the wider MCU.

The film isn't hugely tied into the wider MCU story but there are mentions of it early on. Characters talk about half the population disappearing and there are posters for post-blip therapy sessions seen on the streets. The consequences of the blip have been mentioned a few times now in the MCU but we're usually focusing in on superhero characters and see little of what the general public feel about all this. The Earth of the MCU is one that is acutely aware of enormous threats and must be one where many people believe, perhaps rightly, that pretty much anything is possible.

The highlight of the film for me and perhaps the very best action sequence in the MCU so far takes place on a San Francisco bus. Shang-Chi is attacked by Ten Rings fighters attempting to retrieve his mother's pendant and when they hurt Katy, he proceeds to release his incredible fighting skills. It's really thrilling and so well executed. There's also a lovely streak of humour thanks to a man live-streaming the fight (he's played by Zach Cherry who also told Spider-Man to "do a flip" in Homecoming). The video goes viral and Shang-Chi becomes instantly famous. Traditionally Marvel comic books have focused on keeping secret identities but it's interesting that right from the start of the MCU that hasn't been the case (other than Spider-Man, but even that identity is out in the open now). Shang-Chi is already known to the world, even if it's under the rather uninspiring name of "bus guy".  

Shang-Chi and Katy soon find themselves in Xialing's underground fight club in Macau. This is the main source of MCU Easter eggs in the film. There's a quick moment when we one of the lower level fights. It's fairly easy to notice the orange glow of a fighter laced with Extremis and it's interesting to see that Extremis is still around in the MCU. It may be nothing more than a nod back to Iron Man 3 but it's inclusion may also hint that it may play a larger part in another MCU project (Armor Wars or Ironheart seem most likely). Less easy to spot is the Extremis fighter's opponent who is Helen (played by Jade Xu) who was one of the Black Widow's freed from Dreykov's control by Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow. It's interesting what these character are up to now- it appears that Helen at least is earning some money from her fighting skills.

The big attraction at the fight club though is a fight between Wong and Abomination. It's only a quick moment and we don't learn anything about Abomination at all and still have no idea if there's an in-universe reason for him looking quite different from his appearance in The Incredible Hulk. What I did find interesting was the fact that though they were fighting Wong and Abomination seemed to be quite friendly with each other and after their fight Wong took Abomination with him through a portal. It might just be that Abomination is still incarcerated and Wong casually takes him out for fights but there could be more to it. Abomination is set to return for a bigger role in She-Hulk so we perhaps we will get some answers then. 

It was great to have a re-appearance from Trevor Slattery, the actor who was paid to play the role of the Mandarin on camera in Iron Man 3. In the one-shot All Hail the King Slattery was broken out of prison by the Ten Rings and that was the last we saw of him. It turns out he was due to be executed but, as I mentioned in my discussion of the one-shot, this is a character who always seems to land on his feet and he ends up acting as Wenwu's court jester. Slattery is great comic relief in this film and he survives and is no longer imprisoned so there's certainly some potential for a re-appearance. 

For me the biggest reason that this film really works is the excellent family dynamic at the centre of it. Wenwu was a power-hungry maniac for a thousand years until he met Ying-Li and was convinced to become a better person. He had two children, Shang-Chi and Xialing and appeared to be a good father. Things fell apart when his past caught up with him and led to Ying-Li's death and a lot of the film is about him dealing with that grief. He turned back to the Ten Rings and power and was pretty awful to his kids. Wenwu is fascinating in that he has a long history of being awful and at times is just an abusive father yet he also manages to be so full of love at the same time. His quest to open the gate is entirely because he wants to bring Ying-Li back. 

There's an interesting relationship between Shang-Chi and Katy. There are "just friends" as the film opens but even Katy's family wonder when they are going to get married. The film never becomes a love story and though the pair are perhaps closer due to the events they've been through there's not yet any signs of romance. We will no doubt see this relationship develop in future instalments but it will interesting to see how they tell that story. 

The climax of the film sees Shang-Chi and his family face-off against the Dweller-in-darkness, a creature that consumes souls. In the comic-books the Dweller is a demon from a dimension called Everinnye, the same one that Nightmare came from. It appears in the MCU that the creature is from another universe which continues the development of the Multiverse in the MCU. It's been long-thought that classic Doctor Strange villain Nightmare would have a role in Multiverse of Madness and it's possible he could come from the Dweller's universe too. I'm not sure quite how this all ties in with the wider multiverse though- the TVA were keeping the timelines in check up until Sylvie got involved (in Loki) but the dweller has been around for thousands of years. The idea of an ancient monster suggests links with the deviants in Eternals and it's possible that the dweller was a deviant- perhaps we will find out more in the next Marvel film to be released. 

I'm so excited by the Shang-Chi joining the MCU and the end of the film teases his involvement in future stories- I can't wait to see what they will be!

If you want some more discussion, there's some tantalising teases to the future of the MCU in the post-credits scenes which I've discussed here.