The Infinity Stones influenced the MCU’s redesign of the mystical Ten Rings, the weapons of The Mandarin (Xu Wenwu) in MCU, now dubbed The Infinity Saga, where they served as MacGuffins and powerful weapons, eventually being collected by Thanos and used to wipe out half of all life in the universe. The Mandarin’s Ten Rings extended Wenwu’s lifespan and gave him a variety of superpowers, sharing some similarities to the Infinity Stones.
The six Infinity Stones were created in the aftermath of the big bang. Each stone is tied to a different fundamental concept, such as the portal-creating Space Stone or the time-manipulating Time Stone. Using all six stones allows powerful beings like Thanos to affect the entire universe in an instant. Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet, a dwarven glove of the powerful Uru metal, to combine the power of the stones, and another gauntlet, made by Tony Stark with nanotechnology, was created to undo Thanos’ genocidal act.
The MCU version of the Mandarin’s Ten Rings was changed significantly from their classic Marvel Comics iteration. Rather than being worn on each finger, the MCU’s Ten Rings were worn on the arms, similar to Iron Rings. Moreover, the rings gave collectively gave their wearer a variety of superpowers, rather than having each ring be associated with a different ability. The filmmakers altered the rings for the MCU primarily as a way to visually differentiate them from the Infinity Stones, but their depiction in the Shang-Chi suggests that they might have power comparable to the stones.
Wenwu acquired the Ten Rings about a millennium before the events of Shang-Chi. In addition to keeping Wenwu in his physical prime indefinitely, the rings imbued him with super-strength, defensive and offensive constructs, blasts of concussive force, and enhanced transportation (with the rings propelling their wearer through the air and landing safely where they choose). The rings seem to each hold a portion of their total power, as demonstrated when Wenwu put all ten of the rings on one arm (as opposed to five on each arm), to deliver his most powerful punches when inadvertently freeing the Dweller-in-Darkness.
When examined by Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner, Shang-Chi reveals that the rings are not only far older than Wenwu suggested but that the ring also may have come from an alien source that the MCU has not yet explored. Wenwu might have only scratched the surface of the Ten Rings’ potential power, and their signal in Shang-Chi’s mid-credits scene implies that their creator could be revealed soon. If the MCU follows the rings’ classic comic origin, then the Makluan species could make their live-action debut in a future property.
The Makluans had some of the most advanced technology in the mainstream Marvel Comics universe, possibly explaining the immense power of the MCU’s Ten Rings. With the Infinity Stones having been destroyed at the end of the Infinity Saga, the Ten Rings could replace them as the MCU’s most powerful items. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings modified the design of the Ten Rings to differentiate them from the Infinity Stones, but the two sets of weapons could have comparable levels of power and importance to the MCU.
