"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" tells a complete, self-contained origin story
while also setting up future adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Not everything is neatly tied up at the end of the story. Here
are some of the biggest unanswered questions left open by "Shang-Chi."
Perhaps the worst kept secret about "Shang-Chi and the Legend
of the Ten Rings" was the involvement of Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery,
who first entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2013's "Iron Man 3."
"I wouldn't go in there for twenty minutes."
If Ben Kingsley's red carpet arrivals didn't make it clear, his surprise appearance at
the "Shang-Chi" press conference solidified it. His role wasn't a mere bit part, either:
Trevor proved critical to the plot, and our heroes could never have found Ta-Lo without him.
While the audience sees what happens to Shang-Chi, Katy, and Xialing,
Trevor just kind of vanishes. He survives the attack of the so-called "soul-suckers"
by playing dead, which might be the greatest performance of the desperate actor's career.
But what about us, the audience? We never learn if he stayed in the village, if he
left with Shang-Chi and the gang, or began his own acting troupe among the residents of Ta-Lo.
Sir Ben Kingsley is one of the best parts of the film,
so here's hoping we don't have to wait another seven years to find out what happened to him.
"And you'll never see me coming."
One of the last things we hear before the credits roll is that Xialing is at
her father's base to dismantle his operations. Then, the post-credits scene reveals that Xialing
did indeed show up at the Ten Rings base, but most certainly did not dismantle it. Instead,
she takes the throne herself as men and women train in the courtyard,
seemingly preparing themselves to take down whatever targets Xialing may select.
We're promised the Ten Rings will return, which means that one way
or another we'll get a definitive answer to what Xialing plans on doing with her new crew.
We don't know whether she was always lying about taking apart her dad's toxic
infrastructure, or if she just had a potentially sinister change of heart.
We also don't know how noble she'll be in her new role. Although her story in "Shang-Chi"
seemed to end in a positive place, she's still now lost both of her parents. There's no telling
how that may have affected her outlook. Did Xialing's underground fighting outfit
The Golden Daggers Club get folded into this new business venture? We'll have to wait to find out.
Shang-Chi and Katy are best friends, and have such natural chemistry that Katy's own grandmother
asks when the two are going to get married. At no point in the movie is any kind of romantic
relationship discussed or even really implied between them -- and yet their
story still follows something resembling a traditional "friends-to-lovers" arc.
The only thing is, they never officially become lovers. By the end of the movie they
are walking arm-in-arm with each other, and certainly seem closer than when they started.
Is that the only hint we get about their relationship status? What exactly is their deal?
"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" director Destin Daniel Cretton addressed this
point during a "Shang-Chi" press conference attended by Looper. When asked if Shang-Chi
and Katy were meant to be best friends or potential love interests, he asked,
"Aren't all friendships potential love interests?"
He went on to say that the relationship between Shang-Chi and Katy was written as being intimate,
caring, but also strictly platonic. But he also said there's another reason why
Shaun and Katy don't end their adventure with a big romantic smooch. As the director put it,
"It also just naturally felt like the only way to go with this movie, because Shang-Chi is so
deep in his own inner struggle. I don't think there's emotional space for anything else."
What's left unanswered is what happens next -— after all, Shang-Chi's arc in the movie is him
finally coming to terms with his upbringing and inner turmoil. Now that he's got a little
more emotional space, will these two stay friends forever, or become something more?
Fittingly, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" begins with a legend. We
start with the story of Wenwu using his powers to conquer his enemies,
while the narration speculates about the origin of the rings.
Possibilities like the rings being found in a cave are mentioned, but nothing is ever declared
the truth — and that's the sum total of what we know about the MCU-official origins of his power.
In the comics, the rings arrived on Earth many years ago with Fin Fang Foom,
the extraterrestrial, shape-shifting lizard-dragon-alien thing who may or
may not be present in "Shang-Chi" in the form of the giant monster that kills Wenwu.
The Mandarin tore his spaceship apart looking for artifacts, and that's how he got his ten rings.
But none of this is mentioned in the movie, and we are told that Wenwu, aka The Mandarin,
has possessed these rings for ten lifetimes. So, were they the result of some kind of 11th-century
treasure hunt? Was Wenwu seeking them out? We know at the end that the rings have some kind of
beacon — were they reaching out to him? Or were they reaching out to somewhere in outer space,
calling for some alien force to come to Earth and come after them?
It's almost certain that we'll learn more about the lineage of the Ten Rings at some point.
But as for how Wenwu found them in the first place? That remains to be seen.
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