WARNING: Spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, especially the post-credits scenes
Shang-Chi ends with Shang-Chi and Katy walking through a portal made by Wong and then the credits roll. Fortunately we get to see what happens next in an exciting mid-credits scene.
We see Shang-Chi and Katy join Wong in the Sanctum Sanctorum and also present are holograms of Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner. It's interesting to see that the virtual meet-ups we saw after the five year time-jump in Endgame still appear to be happening.
One immediate question that I had was where is everyone else? I'm assuming Doctor Strange is happy for Wong to deal with this in his place so that absence is explained easily. I assume the adults don't really want Spider-Man involved giving he's just a kid. It's unclear exactly where on the timeline this takes place to it might be before Sam Wilson has taken on the mantle of Captain America. Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy are presumably somewhere deep in space and I guess Hawkeye has once again retired. Presumably no-one knows where Wanda is at the moment. The absence I really couldn't explain was that of Black Panther or a representative from Wakanda (Okoye was the representative in Endgame). I guess Wakanda Forever will shine a light on what's happening but if T'Challa has died then maybe that would explain why they feel they have more important things to do than attend virtual meetings. All in all, it does suggest that the Avengers are drawn pretty thinly right now and if an Avengers-level threat does arise they may need to do some recruiting.
It was great to see Captain Marvel again and her appearance here suggests she is still in close contact with the Avengers after Endgame. She seems to get some sort of alert and disconnects and I wondered if that was a little tease of her about to get involved in whatever the hell happens in The Marvels.
The presence of Bruce Banner was even more fascinating. Last time we saw the character he was in Professor Hulk mode but it seems since then he has reverted back to normal human form. I wonder why he made that decision and can he still Hulk out at all anymore? He also looked much older- this may be simply because we haven't seen him in human form since the opening of Endgame and he's aged in the five years. Maybe though he's looking older because his health has been affected by his universe saving snap- his arm is certainly still injured. Without any solo projects it's always uncertain quite where Banner is going in the MCU but we know he has a role to play in She-Hulk so hopefully we'll find out more there.
The reason Shang-Chi and Katy are brought to the Sanctum is because when Shang-Chi started using the rings it sent a signal out to space that the Avengers picked up on. It appears that the rings are much older than a thousand years old and originate somewhere deep in space. The opening of the film is deliberately ambiguous about where Wenwu obtained the rings in the first place. In the comic books the rings came from an ancient shape-shifting race called the Makluan and I think it's likely that the mythology is the same in the MCU. The most famous Makluan is Fin Fang Foom, a major villain in the comic books whose main form is that of a Chinese dragon. The prospect of seeing Fin Fang Foom in the MCU is a really exciting one.
The post-credits scene sees Shang-Chi's sister Xialing having taken Wenwu's place as the head of the Ten Rings. It doesn't really tell us a great deal but we've yet to see what Xialing's intentions are. It's hard to see what good can come out of rebuilding the Ten Rings and Xialing and Shang-Chi appear to have quite a strained relationship, even if it had improved by the end of the film. It could be quite effective in a potential Shang-Chi 2 to have Shang-Chi forced to take on his sister, especially if they continue with the complicated family dynamic and ensure she doesn't become simply an out and out villain.
It was interesting that the final sting said "The Ten Rings will Return" rather than "Shang-Chi will Return". The latter is obvious, we know that Shang-Chi is going to remain a major MCU player with potential sequels and will likely appear in the next Avengers film when that eventually happens. The sting suggests that maybe the Ten Ring will appear first elsewhere. The two possibilities that spring to mind is that they could have links to Val's Thunderbolts (or whatever name they may take) team or could form a connection with Sharon Carter and whatever the hell she is up to?
These scenes are really great teases that feel reminiscent of the formation of the original Avengers early in the MCU. It may be some time thought before these teases really pay-off...
See also: Shang-Chi Discussion
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