Marvel recently released the first round of images of accompanying toys from their upcoming film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. These include a set of Funko Pops and action figures, with some being from the Marvel Legends line. Another Hasbro action figure portrays Wenwu (Tony Leung) and reveals that he will be wielding the titular Ten Rings.
In the comics, the Ten Rings of Power are alien technology discovered by the Mandarin. Each ring has a different power: the Remaker ring alters relationships, the Influence ring changes bodies, the Spin ring simulates super-speed, the Spectral ring controls wind, the Nightbringer ring is described as a "darklight," the Zero ring summons a "beam of nothingness," the Liar ring creates dreamlike illusions, the Lightning ring creates lightning, the Incandescence ring "contains the miniature heart of a star," and the Daimonic ring creates compulsive loyalty and obsession. Each ring could be utilized to further the Mandarin's villainous plots. The Ten Rings is also the name of the Mandarin's private legion of fighters.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has previously featured the Ten Rings as a group: the false Ten Rings were aligned with Aldrich Killian's (Guy Pearce) Mandarin imposter in Iron Man 3, then the true Ten Rings showed up at the end of the canonical short film All Hail the King to take Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who impersonated the Mandarin in Killian's plot, into the custody of the real Mandarin.
Conversely, the physical Ten Rings of Power made their first appearance in the Shang-Chi trailer. An unidentified person wears metal rings around their arm that glow blue, even charging the wearer's veins with matching blue energy. The Wenwu action figure confirms that these are the MCU's version of the Ten Rings of Power, and an additional, wearable child-sized plastic toy features small blue projectile discs that represent the energy blasts that the Rings produce in battle.
The Wenwu figure comes with glowing blue light surrounding his arms. This light gives way to the Ten Rings, which can be projected from his arms via a built-in action feature that the toy's package calls the "Ten Rings Power Attack." It's unknown whether the Ten Rings will serve as projectiles in the film, given that the wearable toy uses the blue "energy" discs as projectiles instead.
The MCU's Ten Rings are similar to the iron rings used in martial arts, particularly in the southern Chinese Shaolin kung fu discipline of Hung Gar (洪家). In real-life martial arts, iron rings are typically used as a training tool. They're worn around a trainee's wrists and ankles to help build their muscles and therefore their powers and abilities. They're used in conjunction with different training environments, breathing exercises and forms or stance training. They aren't usually used as weapons or in a combat situations, although movies like Kung Fu Hustle have shown them utilized in this way.
Taking all of that into consideration, the ultimate function of the Ten Rings in the film is unclear. They're obviously charged with energy, but whether they actually project that energy, are projectiles themselves or just serve to enhance the wearer's power like in the comics remains unknown. It also isn't clear whether or not each of the Ten Rings will come with its own individual powers in the MCU. In the comics, the abilities of the Rings were generally more specific than those that could be harnessed by each Infinity Stone, but the way that the Rings enhanced the wearer and granted them a collection of powers was comparable to the Infinity Gauntlet.
Many of the abilities of Infinity Stones have, if not direct analogs, then comparable matches among the Ten Rings. The Space Stone created portals and gave the user power over space itself, something comparable but not identical to what the Zero ring can do. The Mind Stone, at its simplest, gave the user the ability to control minds, and the Soul Stone allowed the capture and control of souls, both of which are effects that could be replicated by the Remaker ring, the Liar ring or the Daimonic ring. The Reality Stone allowed the user to manipulate matter, which could be compared to the Influence ring or even the Nightbringer ring. The Time Stone allows the user to time travel, which is at least tangentially related to the time-warping effects of the Spin ring. The Power Stone enhances a person's energy and abilities, which all of the Ten Rings do after a fashion.
Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet is unquestionably the most powerful object in the MCU. That being said, if the Ten Rings do have powers akin to their comic counterparts, they could make the wearer - in this case, Wenwu - almost as powerful as Thanos. With the Infinity Stones gone, the Ten Rings could very well be the next magical object to contend with.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by Daniel Callaham, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Michelle Yeoh, Jiang Nan, Meng'er Zhang. Ronny Chieng, Fala Chen and Jiang Len. The film arrives in theaters Sept. 3.