WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, now in theaters.

In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe adds the expert martial artist, played by Simu Liu, to its growing roster of heroes. Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, in the "present-day" of the MCU depicted in WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Shang-Chi is packed with references to the films that came before it, and to the comic book source material.

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The Snap and Blip From Infinity War & Endgame

Hulk's snap from Avengers: Endgame

Phase Four of the MCU has addressed the trauma attached by the loss of half of the people on Earth in Thanos' Snap in Avengers: Infinity War, followed by their return, five years later in the Blip, as depicted in Endgame and WandaVision. Those events are referenced twice in Shang-Chi, first when Awkwafina's Katy points out she and Shang-Chi need to embrace life because they live in a world where half of the people on Earth can disappear at any time, and then on a poster that reads, "Post-Blip anxiety? You are not alone."

The Mandarin and Fu Manchu

The Mandarin from Marvel Comics.

Known in the comics as the Mandarin, the Ten Rings leader Wenwu (Tony Leung) muses to his son, Shang-Chi, that Americans attempted to transform him and his organization into a symbol by making "orange" and a dish into a tyrant. He also admits he's gone by such names as the Warrior King, Master Khan and the Most Dangerous Man on Earth, the second being a sobriquet the Mandarin once used. His speech on authenticity also addresses the Fu Manchu character from the comics, as this version of Shang-Chi's relied upon racist stereotypes.

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The City of Ta Lo

Ta Lo is a small pocket dimension, a "god realm," that appeared once, in Thor #301, only to be explored more in the publisher's handbooks than in the comics themselves. Apparently, there are five portals that lead to Ta Lo, each of which is found at the foot of a sacred mountain, tying into Nan's revelation that various chapters of this city exist in different universes.

Trevor Slattery

Shang-Chi Reveals the Sad Fate of the Fake Mandarin

After impersonating the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, washed-up actor Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) is next seen in prison in 2014's Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King, in which he's kidnapped. He turns up again in Shang-Chi as a prisoner of Wenwu, He regrets working for Aldrich Killian, and uses his talents to help Shang-Chi stop his father. In a nod to his acting background, Trevor pretends to be dead to avoid enemies in the finale at Ta Lo.

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The Ten Rings

shang-chi-and-the-legend-of-the-ten-rings-flag-header

As we learn the terrorist group's true origins, it's revealed Wenwu has gone from using the Ten Rings to amass wealth and power over the years to wanting Ta Lo destroyed, because he thinks his dead wife is there. The loyal Ten Rings soldiers are revealed to have committed political assassination to help Wenwu's empire grow. The group's insignia from Iron Man 3 also returns, but with a more authentic update.

The Golden Daggers

Meng'er Zhang as Xu Xialing in Shang-Chi

Shang-Chi locates his estranged sister Xialing (Meng'er Zhang) at the Golden Daggers Club in Macau so they can stop Wenwu, only to discover she's running an underground superhuman fight club. In the comics, the Golden Daggers was a criminal organization run by one of Shang-Chi's sisters, a despot named Leiko. The Golden Daggers scene also include a Madripoor flag, a nod to the fictional Marvel Comics nation introduced into the MCU in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

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Black Widow and Extremis Connections

Awkwafina, Ronny Chieng and Simu Liu in Shang-Chi

In the Golden Daggers Club, one cell features an Extremis-powered soldier from Iron Man 3 fighting the Black Widow Helen (Jade Xiu), introduced in Black Widow. It indicates someone is still experimenting with the Tony Stark tech that created fire-breathing soldiers.

Wenwu's Henchmen, Razor Fist and Death Dealer

Death Dealer in a helicopter in Shang-Chi looking menacing

Wenwu's main henchmen are Razor Fist and Death Dealer. The former, who attacks Shang-Chi on a San Francisco bus, is actually a mercenary for hire in the comics. The film depicts Death Dealer assassin training a young Shang-Chi but not Xialing, because women warriors are frowned upon in the Ten Rings. Death Dealer (aka Li Ching-Lin) is different in the source material, where he's an MI6 agent who secretly worked for Shang-Chi's father.

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Zach Cherry's Klev From Spider-Man: Homecoming

Klev live streams the bus fight in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

In the bus brawl, Zach Cherry's vlogger Klev returns following his debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he asked Spider-Man to perform stunts. Now, he's live-streaming as Shang-Chi fights Razor Fist and his crew. "Yo, whaddup y'all, it's your boy Klev, coming at you live on the bus," he declares, mentioning he practiced martial arts too. However, he stops vocally supporting the hero when Razor Fist intimidates the passengers.

The Abomination and Wong

Emil Blonsky also appears in the fight club in a bigger, mutated form akin to the comics. He fights Wong (Benedict Wong), but loses. Wong then helps Emil to heal from their brawl, and admits they're hustling the audience to make money. That ties into Wong's earlier admission that he's kind of broke. Wong uses sling-ring portals in the fight and to take Abomination back to prison.

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The Dweller-in-Darkness

In Shang-Chi, the Dweller-in-Darkness is an eldritch monster trapped in a mystical Ta Lo prison who tricks Wenwu into freeing it. The Dweller-in-the-Darkness assumes a dragon-like form in what seems to be an homage to Marvel's classic alien dragon, Fin Fang Foom. Interestingly, the Dweller was more of a humanoid version of Cthulhu, created in the '70s for the comics. It was a demon who belonged to the Fear Lords, feeding on fear as opposed to sucking souls in this film. Instead of Shang-Chi, the Dweller often faced supernatural heroes like Doctor Strange.

Bruce Banner, Carol Danvers & Wong in an 'Avengers Council'

The mid-credits scene depicts Wong taking Shang-Chi and Katy to his Sanctum Sanctorum. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) are there in hologram form, discussing the Ten Rings. They're not sure of the rings' origin; Wong admits even Kamar-Taj felt the ripple when Shang-Chi took control of the relics. Bruce, no longer in his "Professor Hulk" form, has his hand in a sling following his extensive injuries in Endgame.

To see all the MCU nods, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.

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