Shang-Chi, played by Simu Liu, is Marvel’s newest Avenger, and his cameo-filled solo film closes with a mid-credits scene that looks to set up a future Avengers narrative.
Warning: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings spoilers ahead.
The Sling Ring-wielding Wong (Benedict Wong) calls Shang-Chi and Katy (Awkwafina) to a post-movie conference to discuss the thousand-year-old rings that Wenwu (Tony Leung) mastered as the Ten Rings’ commander.
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Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), a.k.a. the cosmic Captain Marvel, appear remotely via hologram to figure out where the rings came from and send a beacon to someplace in the cosmos. You’ve arrived at the circus.
Director Destin Daniel Cretton said to Variety that Marvel didn’t know which Avengers will virtually join Wong in the Sanctum until Shang-Chi was in post-production “go through a lot of changes and upgrades based on what’s going on in the MCU’s other series and movies.
It was so reliant on what those characters were up to in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the moment.”Cretton wanted to reunite with Larson’s space-faring Avenger, who had previously starred in the director’s films Just Cause, The Glass Castle, and Short Term 12.
Carol Danvers is frequently off-world dealing with cosmic perils, as she will again in 2022’s The Marvels, so the first-time Marvel filmmaker wasn’t sure how to integrate Captain Marvel in Shang-Chi.
MARVEL's SHANG-CHI Director Explains How Credits Scenes Set Up Future AVENGERS Storieshttps://t.co/YiGbMgHW6n pic.twitter.com/SZbbhXkGQW
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“We spoke about it being Brie,” Cretton added, “but we didn’t know if it was possible that Brie could be there.” “It certainly helps that we ended up with holographic copies of these people, so they can walk away and get back to whatever insane situation they’re in.
The director went on that he’s not even sure he understands what they’re up against. All he knows is that he proposes ideas, and the only time they’re rejected is if they don’t make logical sense in the context of other characters’ ideas.
Danvers does take a step back, her attention diverted to a beep, warning her of a problem somewhere in the MCU that has yet to be revealed. Later, a post-credits sequence teases Shang-once-estranged Chi’s sister, Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), as she inherits the family company before a post-post-credits scroll. Announces, “The Ten Rings will return.”
He previously told THR that he might return in an Avengers 5 sequel, “In terms of the future, I’m sure what’s on my mind is the same as what’s on everyone else’s. And, ideally, there will be an Avengers movie in the future.”
Image courtesy of Marvel Entertainment/YouTube