Are Katy & Shang-Chi A Couple At The End?

Warning: Spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

By the end of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, have Shang-Chi and Katy become a couple? The latest Marvel movie introduced the MCU's newest hero in Shang-Chi (Simu Liu). However, it arguably introduced another hero in the form of Katy (Awkwafina), Shang-Chi's best friend, as she accompanied him on his dangerous adventure and was right in the thick of things in the final battle. She may not have superpowers or preternatural martial arts skills, but she's incredibly brave and willing to stand up for what's right.

Because of her loyalty and sense of humor, Katy has been Shang-Chi's closest friend for a decade. After ten years, he's developed the comfortable sort of camaraderie with her that he might with a sister–easier, in fact, than the relationship he does have with his own estranged sister, Xialing (Meng'er Zhang). Despite their closeness, it's presented as a purely platonic friendship, with them even protesting that they were just friends when Katy's grandma asks when they're getting married, and throughout most of the film, nothing in their interactions or chemistry suggests otherwise.

But the third act seemed to suggest their relationship has changed by the end of the movie, incorporating more intimate moments between the two. The very end of the movie shows Katy laying her head on Shang-Chi's shoulder as they decompress with the survivors of Ta Lo after the final battle with Dweller-in-Darkness. Earlier moments pave the way for them to grow closer, with Katy suddenly realizing that Shang-Chi is actually pretty hot when she sees him with his shirt off for the first time. While it's certainly possible that a romance between the pair will blossom further down the narrative vine, however, it's unlikely they're a couple. For starters, they'd just been through a devastating fight, one in which half of the village of Ta Lo had been wiped out, with numerous people dying in front of them. Katy, in particular, has never had any experience in battle or with death; her seeking comfort in a moment of shock and grief is perfectly natural.

Beyond the scope of Shang-Chi, it would be slightly disappointing if Marvel were to go the romance route with Shang-Chi and Katy. Outside of Natasha Romanoff's incredibly close friendship with Clint Barton, there have been no male-female friendships of that level of intimacy that still remain platonic in the MCU. Inevitably, they virtually always turn into romantic relationships. While it could be fun to see how Marvel handles an arc of two brother-and-sister close platonic friends shifting into something more, it would be better, and far more interesting, to see their relationship remain platonic, just with new challenges.

There's an individual reason why it would be wise for Marvel to allow them to remain platonic, too. While the MCU is getting better in terms of representation and diversity, there are still far fewer female characters in the MCU than there are male characters, and half of them are defined most notably by their romantic relationship with a male superhero, including Jane Foster, Christine Palmer, Pepper Potts, even Scarlet Witch. It would be great to see Katy's future in the MCU defined not by her relationship to Shang-Chi, but by the path she carves for herself.

Both Katy and Shang-Chi are immature when the movie begins, little more than kids, but they grow up in a hurry. And while the movie understandably focuses on Shang-Chi finding himself, Katy also comes into her own. She takes risks she never thought possible, and her bravery has clearly not gone without notice. After all, when Wong (Benedict Wong) steps through the portal in the mid-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it's not just Shang-Chi he asks for, but also Katy. And it's not just Shang-Chi who Wong taps for the next mission, but Katy, too. Marvel allowing them both to grow as brand-new heroes together without the entanglements of romance is the most interesting choice it could make where Shang-Chi and Katy's relationship is concerned.

Next: Every MCU Easter Egg In Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings