This story gets into spoilers for the new Marvel Studios movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Don’t read forward if you haven’t yet seen the film, or are concerned about finding out stuff about the ending.
Destin Daniel Cretton’s origin story Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings introduces a fascinating new character to the MCU, who brings with him unexpected new powers and a fantasy-driven corner of the comics worlds. As we learn in the film’s opening, the Rings of the title have been around for thousands of years, and have been possessed by Wenwu (Tony Leung) as he used them to acquire as much power as possible. His desire to conquer Ta Lo chipped away at his morality, and the promise of possibly reuniting with his true love finally pushed him over the edge. But at the end of the movie, the Rings now belong to Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), and that changes everything.