WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, now in theaters.
Right from its full theatrical title, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ties the legacy of the martial arts superhero to the terrorist organization that has been plaguing the Marvel Cinematic Universe from its very first film, 2008's Iron Man. However, while this iteration of the Ten Rings is headed by Shang-Chi's villainous father Wenwu and inspired by feudal Chinese culture, it stands as a far cry from the scrappy, multinational terrorist band that ambushed and kidnapped Tony Stark in Afghanistan over a decade ago. And in addressing the visible discrepancies between the two incarnations of the Ten Rings, the film sidesteps the matter entirely while explaining why Wenwu has laid relatively out of sight for history of the MCU up until this point.
Shang-Chi's prologue establishes that Wenwu has been in his physical prime for centuries, effectively granted immortality by the otherworldly ten rings that he wears prominently around his wrists. As Wenwu conquers the world and violently shapes the course of history from the shadows, his criminal empire takes on the Ten Rings as its de facto symbol. However, in the 1990s, Wenwu learns of a powerful form of martial arts existing within a secret region in China known as Ta Lo and falls in love with one of the masters of the mystical fighting style. And as Wenwu temporarily puts aside his signature rings to make an earnest attempt at starting a family with the martial arts master Ying Li, fathering two children with her, the previously introduced Ten Rings organization takes up Wenwu's legacy to further its own agenda.
Wenwu details how Iron Man 3's primary antagonist Aldrich Killian took the image of Wenwu and twisted it into a public figurehead for his iteration of the Ten Rings, portrayed by failed actor Trevor Slattery. Trading on the fearsome legacy that Wenwu and his empire had cultivated in the international criminal underworld for centuries, Wenwu sees what Killian and Slattery did as something of a grave insult to his legacy. And when Ying Li is brutally murdered by those seeking revenge for Wenwu's past transgressions, Wenwu not only dons the Ten Rings to avenge his wife's death but also decides to rebuild the Ten Rings from the ground up.
By the time Wenwu and his Ten Rings are introduced in Shang-Chi, he is already well on his way towards becoming one of the most formidable threats in the MCU and one of its most powerful crime lords. Boasting his own private army of assassins, Wenwu keeps tabs on both of his wayward children while plotting for a way to enter Ta Lo and scour the fantasy land for the possible means to reunite with his deceased wife. And while Killian and many of his henchmen may have been killed over the course of Iron Man 3, Wenwu personally has Slattery broken out of prison with the intention to kill him before opting to spare him and keep him imprisoned as his makeshift court jester.
Some form of the Ten Rings has existed in the MCU long before Steve Rogers ever ingested that Super Soldier serum during World War II. However, the Ten Rings that Tony was more accustomed to fighting wasn't a direct extension of Wenwu's criminal empire but an entity run by those who sought power while Wenwu attempted to go legitimate and become a family man. And while both Aldrich Killian and Wenwu may have met their respective untimely ends, it appears the Ten Rings will persist beyond their leadership with a different familiar face at the helm.
Directed and co-written by Destin Daniel Cretton, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.