Warning: SPOILERS for Shang-Chi.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has two credits scenes - one mid-credits and one post-credits, and both do an excellent job of setting up future TV shows and movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Movies had post-credits scenes long before Marvel Studios came along, but it was the MCU that heavily popularized the practice with modern blockbusters, so much so that most high-budgeted films include credits scenes either to set up future installments or conclude a storyline left over by the end of the movie. The only MCU movie to not have a credits scene is Avengers: Endgame, since that film was all about concluding The Infinity Saga. Now things are back in full swing and Phase 4 is well underway, Shang-Chi's credits scenes are all about the future, setting up a whopping six upcoming releases.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' mid-credits scene is where the biggest MCU teases come, bringing back several key Marvel characters. Captain Marvel, Bruce Banner, and Wong all appear in Shang-Chi's mid-credits scene, discussing the power and origin of the Ten Rings. It's revealed that the rings have a beacon calling out to some mysterious being, and so Shang-Chi and Katy are seemingly recruited to the team to help deal with that emerging threat, though it's not officially stated if that team is indeed the Avengers or not.
After that, Shang-Chi's post-credits scene shows what happens with the Ten Rings organization and Xialing. The sequence reveals that Xialing has actually taken control of her father's regime, making some big changes to how things are done - including a new design for Ta-Lo and women now being recruited into the organization. There's clear setup for more here too, with Shang-Chi's end-credits concluding with the tease that "The Ten Rings Will Return." It stops short of saying exactly where or when, but there are lots of upcoming MCU movies set to be impacted by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Click here to watch Shang-Chi's Post-Credits Scenes Explained on YouTube.
Shang-Chi's Mid-Credits Scene Teases Doctor Strange 2
The biggest setup in Shang-Chi's credits scene is for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The fact that Wong not only appears during the movie's main story but returns in the mid-credits scene to bring Shang-Chi and Katy into the world of Marvel's superheroes puts the new characters on a path to reappear in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel. When Shang-Chi took control of the Ten Rings from his father and used them to destroy the Dweller in Darkness, Wong and the Masters of the Mystic Arts were made aware of the Ten Rings' power in Kamar-Taj. Not only that, but the rings also have a beacon in them that are calling to someone or something. To answer that question, Shang-Chi will need to return.
At the moment, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is shaping up to be the big, non-Avengers crossover movie of Phase 4, very much in a way that Captain America: Civil War was for Phase 3. Xochitl Gomez will make her debut as America Chavez in the film, and she will be joined by Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. Furthermore, there are reports that Loki will appear in Doctor Strange 2, with a distinct possibility that Spider-Man could as well - the former being that he participated in the creation of the Multiverse and the latter because his story in Spider-Man: No Way Home will lead into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Now on top of all that, Shang-Chi and his beacon could be directly tied to the upcoming sequel film.
Wong gave Shang-Chi and Katy a speech about their lives being different from that day forward, and Bruce Banner even welcomed them to the team, sort of. If the beacon was felt in Kamar-Taj and Shang-Chi was brought in by Wong, it all points to the answers coming sooner rather than later. Moreover, the beacon could be calling the tentacled creature Shuma-Gorath, who is rumored to be Doctor Strange 2's villain. The monster first appeared in What If...?, being called into action by Red Skull, but the live-action version might come from a different dimension, which would fall in line with what Shang-Chi set up between the Ten Rings, Dweller in Darkness, and the village of Ta Lo.
What Movie Is The Ten Rings Investigation Setting Up? (Is It Eternals?)
If the Ten Rings' beacon isn't connected to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, then there's no specific film for the investigation to continue in. It's doubtful Marvel would wait until Shang-Chi 2 to resolve a storyline that's involved multiple Avengers, not to mention whatever the beacon is calling wouldn't take too long to arrive onto the scene. Furthermore, there's the other part of the investigation; the origin of the Ten Rings themselves is a particular mystery that requires additional insight.
So far, everything Shang-Chi (and audiences) know about the rings is that Wenwu discovered them hundreds of years ago, though they're actually thousands of years old; they grant the wearer eternal life, even if it's not immortality; and the user can use the rings to attack or defend themselves from any sort of object. Some people even speculated that Wenwu found the rings in a crater. Combining that detail with everything else that's known about them, it's plausible the Ten Rings are connected to the Eternals; in which case, the Eternals movie could provide an answer as to where the Ten Rings came from and what the beacon is calling. And if that ends up happening, then the beacon could be calling the Deviants, who are the Eternals' primordial enemies.
Shang-Chi's Mid-Credits Smart Hulk Change Can Be Explained In She-Hulk
Perhaps the subtlest setup in Shang-Chi's mid-credits scene is Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner, who appears in human form for the first time since 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Sometime in the five years between the events of Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Banner put the "brains and the brawn" together and combined his consciousness with that of the Hulk's form, thus creating Smart Hulk (known as Professor Hulk in Marvel Comics). In doing so, Smart Hulk retained Banner's personality and intelligence but gave him the ability to fight like Hulk, though his violent tendencies were curbed. It was unclear how he became Smart Hulk or if he was able to return to human form; now it seems the latter was at least possible.
In Shang-Chi's mid-credits scene, Bruce Banner appears again as a human, thereby suggesting at some point after Endgame's ending, he reversed his Smart Hulk transformation. However, one thing that hasn't changed is his injury; his right arm was wounded when he performed the snap with the Infinity Stones and brought back everyone who was blipped. Banner still has his arm sling in Shang-Chi. But while the movie doesn't reveal how or why Banner reversed his Smart Hulk change, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige told Screen Rant that answers will be coming. The most logical place for these answers to be found is in She-Hulk, which Ruffalo is set to appear in.
Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk is Bruce Banner's cousin, and in the comics, he donates his blood to save her from dying. And as a side effect of receiving a transfusion of Banner's gamma-irradiated blood, she turns into She-Hulk. Perhaps in the MCU, the transfusion not only turns Walters into She-Hulk but also reverses Banner's Smart Hulk transformation.
Captain Marvel's Emergency In Shang-Chi's Mid-Credits Scene Sets Up The Marvels
Seeing Bruce Banner is one thing, but getting a first look at Captain Marvel post-Avengers: Endgame was something else. Brie Larson is set to return to the big screen in The Marvels in 2022; the movie is a sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel but also a crossover with WandaVision and Ms. Marvel, both of which will introduce Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan and Teyonah Parris' version of Monica Rambeau on film. Whereas the first Captain Marvel movie saw Carol Danvers come to grips with her powers, her past, and her place in the world, the sequel will be a massive expansion of her story given all the characters involved and when it takes place in the MCU timeline.
Judging by Carol's comfortability with Wong and Bruce Banner in the Shang-Chi mid-credits scene, and the fact that Banner says she disappears on them a lot, there's a hint of her being more involved in the bigger picture of Earth's safety as well as the Avengers' continuation beyond the events of Endgame. She appears in the scene to say that the Ten Rings aren't of Chitauri origin, but in the middle of the conversation, she seems to receive an emergency signal. Captain Marvel was busy patrolling the galaxy and giving aid where needed during the five-year time jump in Endgame, and she may be continuing that mission in The Marvels. Shang-Chi gives audiences a glimpse of her life after taking on Thanos, and while it's mostly the same as what she was doing during Endgame, it's a neat way to set up her new story. Plus, she also has longer hair now, a noticeable difference from her Endgame look.
Shang-Chi's Mid-Credits Scene Teases A New Avengers Roster (For Avengers 5?)
Technically, the Avengers were still around at the end of Endgame, but Phase 4 has showcased that things are far worse than they seemed. Scarlet Witch is off the grid, and Captain America and Winter Soldier have had to contend with their own issues. Furthermore, sadly, T'Challa is no longer around as Black Panther and Peter Parker is struggling with his Spider-Man identity being outed, something that Doctor Strange will help him with in Spider-Man: No Way Home. On top of that, everyone else is scattered or on another mission. That might be why Wong is working with Abomination, Captain Marvel, and Bruce Banner, because no one else is around to help. But the Shang-Chi mid-credits scene teases that there's still a future for Earth's mightiest heroes.
Wong explains to Shang-Chi and Katy that their lives will no longer be the same, and essentially, they need to be prepared to answer the call to action if it comes, just like Earth's other superheroes had done for over a decade. It's unclear when The Avengers 5 will happen, but it's all but guaranteed that it will at some point. Before it does, Shang-Chi could return in another team-up film, but at the moment, the credits scene in his movie sets the stage for further involvement on his part.
Shang-Chi's Post-Credits Scene Sets Up Xialing & The Ten Rings' Return (In Shang-Chi 2?)
While Shang-Chi's mid-credits scene set up three upcoming MCU shows and movies, the movie's post-credits scene was all about the Ten Rings organization. Xialing was introduced as an adversary in Macau, but she quickly became a hero and part of Shang-Chi's most trusted allies. However, the Shang-Chi post-credits scene reveals that she not only didn't dismantle her father's criminal empire but instead took control of it - and began both internal and external renovations. First, she quite literally remodeled the Ten Rings compound, adding much-needed color and art, most of which were in the vein of the art and posters she had in her room. Second, she amended Wenwu's antiquated rule of having only men train by prominently incorporating women into the organization. Now, the men and women train side-by-side, just like they do in Ta Lo.
The mere fact that the Ten Rings still exist, as well as Marvel Studios promising that the Ten Rings will return in a future movie or show, lends credence to the assumption that they will become an antagonist in Shang-Chi 2. Whether or not that actually happens may be irrelevant to Shang-Chi 2 happening, because nowadays, Marvel is approaching sequels differently than they have in the past. Storylines are no longer directly threaded into sequels but are rather spiritual sequels with the main cast returning, as was the case with Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, and so forth. Shang-Chi's post-credits scene is merely a promise of more Shang-Chi-focused movies in the future. At this point, the movie would have to completely flop at the box office (even taking the pandemic into account) and perform absolutely poorly critically for a sequel to not happen.
Key Release Dates
-
Eternals
Release Date:2021-11-05 -
Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness
Release Date:2022-05-06 -
Thor: Love and Thunder
Release Date:2022-07-08 -
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Release Date:2022-11-11 -
captain marvel 2
Release Date:2023-07-28 -
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Release Date:2023-02-17 -
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Release Date:2023-05-05
