By the very, very end of Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Meng’er Zhang’s Xialing is left in a position of very real power. With her father (Tony Leung’s Wenwu) having died, she takes on the responsibility of becoming the new leader of the Ten Rings organization – quickly molding it according to her personal philosophy. It suggests very exciting things are ahead for the character, and while we don’t know right now what Marvel’s actual plans are, the actor has an excellent idea for what she would like to do in the future.
With Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings now making its way to the home video market, I had the pleasure of interviewing Meng’er Zhang today about her experience making the film, and it was at the very end of our conversation that the conversation pivoted to what’s ahead. Without asking for a legitimate peek into what’s being discussed behind closed doors, I asked her where she would like to take Xialing next, and her pitch is stellar: she wants to make a play for the actual Ten Rings. She explained,
I read a lot of posts and comments from fans, and they have a lot of good ideas. I mean, I'm down! And from that end credit scene, we can see she's on the throne with Razorfist and Jon Jon by her side. And she is now the new leader of the Ten Rings organization, and I just thought to myself, 'What kind of a Ten Rings organization [is it] without the actual Ten Rings?’ Right? So I think she might want it – want the rings, you know what I mean? That can be really cool.
What Meng’er Zhang is thinking certainly makes a hell of a lot of sense. It was because he possessed the ancient and powerful Ten Rings that Wenwu was able to build an empire over the course of thousands of years, and their significance is heralded in the organization’s name. On a strictly logical level, it makes all kinds of sense that the Ten Rings would belong to the leader of the Ten Rings.
Of course, there is an obvious problem, and it concerns the fact that Wenwu bequeathed the weapons to someone else before he died – namely Xailing’s brother, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu). It’s because of those rings that the titular hero of the Marvel blockbuster is going to be able to operate on the same playing field as the Avengers, so he’s unlikely going to want to give them up; plus, he did rightfully inherit them.
The idea of Meng’er Zhang making a play for the Ten Rings sounds great – and it doesn’t even need to be a violent or physical confrontation with her sibling. Maybe she can hire She-Hulk to represent her in a lawsuit against her brother, opening the door to Shang-Chi hiring Matt Murdock a.k.a. Daredevil as his attorney (this, of course, is just silly speculation… but why not, right?)
The final message of Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings states that the Ten Rings will return – and while we’re still waiting for more clarification regarding what that means, for now fans everywhere can rewatch the 2021 Marvel blockbuster to their heart’s content. In addition to being available for purchase digitally from online retailers including Amazon, the film is also now streaming on Disney+. Physical media collectors will be able to find the 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD editions in stores on November 30.
To take a look at what is set to come out from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the coming years, including on the big screen and the small, read our Upcoming Marvel Movies and Upcoming Marvel TV guides.
