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 title character (played by Simu Liu) proves to be one of Earth's biggest heroes when he stops the soul-sucking interdimensional monster, the Dweller-in-Darkness, from consuming the world. It leaves him brimming with confidence, finally accepting the destiny linked to his deceased mom, Ying Li, and her realm of Ta Lo. More so, he's now able to undo the terrorist work his dad, Wenwu, did by using the rings as a force for good. However, as the mid-credits indicate, Shang-Chi's new weapons may have inadvertently paved the way for a long-awaited, ferocious Marvel villain to arrive.

The mid-credits stinger has Shang-Chi, Katy and Wong discussing the nature of the rings at the Sanctum Santorum in New York with Carol Danvers and Bruce Banner chiming in via hologram. However, Carol doesn't know them to be any alien tech she's familiar with, while Banner explains that they're even older than the thousand years Wenwu had them as a warlord.

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Shang-Chi-Dragon-Feature

Wong doesn't think they're of this universe either, with the camera zooming in to shockingly reveal that the rings are sending out a signal, acting as a beacon. This suggests they're calling out to someone, or something, which could well be Fin Fang Foom, which was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the '60s.

While Wenwu is an updated version of the Mandarin in Shang-Chi, it's worth noting the Mandarin originally found the rings aboard an alien spaceship belonging to a Makluan explorer named Axonn-Karr in the comic books. He murdered the alien and headed out with the rings, eventually trying to use them to awaken a dragon from Maklu IV that was hidden on Earth with other infiltrators. This dragon overlord was Fin Fang Foom, which the Mandarin hoped to use as a weapon for global dominance, and while that failed, the dragon went on to become a massive thorn in the side of Iron Man and the Avengers for decades.

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fin fang foom in front of shang chi

Thus, the Marvel Cinematic Universe could be rejigging things to make it such that these rings are, indeed, what Fin Fang Foom used to target new worlds to devour. It could connect to the Dweller-in-Darkness, as this beast does have a dragon-like appearance and telepathic powers akin to Fin Fang Foom. The Dweller might even have just been a hound for the alien dragon, with its bat-like minions being the first wave of a much larger and scarier invasion to come for a hungry master.

Linking Shang-Chi's rings to this reptilian race could also address why the Dweller reached out to Wenwu in the first place, using his dead wife to get him to come and free it in Ta Lo. Seeing as Wenwu needed to use the rings to smash the "dark gate" that Ta Lo set up to keep the Dweller trapped, these rings might be a power source for beings from the Dweller's dimension. Scouts could have lost them on Earth eons before Wenwu found the weapons. It'd even shed some light as to why Ta Lo's Great Protector is a dragon, as this entity could be the light to the dark that is Fin Fang Foom. Should Fin Fang Foom arrive, it'd provide a reason for the Avengers to once more unite as they did against the Chitauri and Thanos' armies.

To see the MCU's newest hero, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is in theaters now.

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