Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Marvel's latest, MCU's Shang-Chi is very different from the comics, where he's not connected to the Mandarin at all, but rather to another crime lord, Fu Manchu, who Marvel don't have the rights to - and probably wouldn't use if they could, because he's a problematic racist trope.
Marvel has toyed with introducing Shang-Chi to the big screen for over 20 years. He was one of the Iron Man 3.
Like all MCU films, Shang-Chi is packed with Easter eggs and cameos. Some of them are easy to spot, others are a lot more subtle - here's every Marvel Easter egg and notable pop culture reference in the movie.
Click here to watch Shang-Chi: 20 Things You Missed on YouTube.
A Nod To Simu Liu's Role In Kim's Convenience
Let's start with one of the more amusing, tongue-in-cheek nods - in one scene Katy re her first meeting with Shang-Chi, when he expressed a vocal objection to being considered a Korean. This is a pun on Kim's Convenience, where Simu Liu played a Korean character named Jung. Liu has suggested this was something of a challenge; as he observed on Twitter back in 2016, "everyone is Korean except for me, and I'm trying very hard to fit in."
References To The Blip
The Falcon & the Winter Soldier on the geopolitical issues arising from the Blip. The Blip is referenced twice in Shang-Chi, once when Katy points out they live in a world where half the people on Earth can disappear. It's referenced again more subtly on a poster outside her home. "Post-Blip anxiety? You are not alone," the poster declares, suggesting there's understandably still a lot of trauma in the world.
The Return Of The Ten Rings
The Ten Rings have been an established part of the MCU from the beginning, as the terrorist cell that captured Tony Stark in Iron Man was one of them. They were fleshed out as the trilogy continued, appearing numerous times in tie-ins such as the Iron Man 3 Prelude comic book that revealed War Machine was dealing with a particularly nasty terrorist plot on the other side of the world when the Chitauri invaded New York in the Ten Rings logo has changed a little, because it originally featured Mongolian characters, drawing complaints from the Mongolian government because they resented their language being associated with a fictional terrorist group. Now, the characters are written in an ancient Chinese seal script, carefully chosen to be inoffensive synonyms for power.
A Returning Character From Spider-Man: Homecoming
The Ten Rings catch up with Shang-Chi on the bus, and their initial confrontation is observed by a familiar face. Played by Spider-Man: Homecoming, when he asked Spider-Man to perform stunts as he filmed them, and he returns in Shang-Chi when a fight breaks out on his bus. "Yo, whaddup y'all, it's your boy Klev, coming at you live on the bus," he declares, before stating his intention to rate Shang-Chi's martial arts as he apparently practiced when he was younger. It's really something of a shame Klev doesn't appear more, because he gets some great comedic lines in this welcome cameo.
Enter Razor Fist
In the comics, Razor Fist is a low-level thug who typically works for more prominent villains - including the likes of the Mandarin and the Hood. He's gone head-to-head with a wide range of superheroes, such as Shang-Chi, Wolverine, and Deadpool, but - although he was initially treated as a dangerous threat - he's increasingly been seen as light comic relief compared to more deadly foes. Shang-Chi's version is a little different, with only one of his hands replaced by a razor-stump, which is frankly a lot more practical; the comic book character has often been mocked with questions about just how he gets dressed when both his hands are blades. Amusingly, it's soon clear the character still likes to call himself "Razor Fist," with that name sprayed on his car.
The Jacket Move Homage To Jackie Chan
Shang-Chi is heavily inspired by Jackie Chan and Chinese wuxia films, and it wears its love of these martial movies on its sleeve - literally. The opening bus fight between Shang-Chi and of the Ten Rings features a tremendous moment in which the hero uses his jacket as a weapon, a move that will be familiar to any Jackie Chan fans. All in all, Shang-Chi boasts some of the best fight choreography in the entire MCU to date, appropriate for the character who - in the comics - is called the Master of Kung Fu.
Shang-Chi's Origin Has Changed - But Still References The Comics
Shang-Chi's origin story has completely changed from the comics, but certain elements of it still link to his first appearance in Special Marvel Edition #15. There, he was brought up by the crime lord Fu Manchu as an assassin but believing his father to be a humanitarian who only killed evil people. He did indeed complete his first mission for his father - before being told the truth about Fu Manchu being evil, and going rogue. The similarities end there, though, because Shang-Chi's first mission in the MCU was a lot more personal.
The Golden Daggers
Shang-Chi seeks out his sister Xialing at the Golden Daggers Club in Macau, unaware it is a superhuman fight club or that Xialing owns it. In the comics, the Golden Daggers were a criminal organization led by Shang-Chi's sister (named Leiko in the comics), who established them as a rival empire to her father's. Shang-Chi originally thought they were working for Fu Manchu, but gradually learned he was caught between two rival criminal gangs.
Black Widows & Extremis Soldiers
Keep a close eye on the Golden Daggers fight club, because it includes a number of cool Easter eggs. One particularly interesting fight is between Black Widow. The Extremis soldier is especially curious, as they were all supposedly killed, so it's possible someone has begun experimenting with Extremis again.
The Return Of The Abomination
Of course, the star attraction of the Golden Daggers is She-Hulk Disney+ TV series.
