The titular hero introduced in Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings could yet prove to be the key to Marvel's Multiverse Saga. The Multiverse Saga will see Kang the Conqueror rise to become the next main Marvel Studios villain after Thanos. With Phase 5 of the MCU set to introduce Kang in a big way through Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the future appearances of Shang-Chi could prove to link the two together, and tie the hero into the Multiverse Saga's story.
This could be done through Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' post-credits scene, in which the titular ten rings were sending a signal to an unknown recipient. One thing that the trailer for Ant-Man showcased was Kang's Quantum Realm empire, which had sets of rings and quantum energy effects that looked very similar to those of Shang-Chi's rings. Because of this link, the rings could be either sending a message to Kang himself or someone else. Either way would tie Shang-Chi to the Multiverse Saga intrinsically and, if it turns out to be the latter, the signal's recipient will likely also make Shang-Chi key to Phases 5 and 6.
Are Shang-Chi's Ten Rings Sending A Signal To Kang?
It is worth exploring if Shang-Chi's rings are sending a signal to Kang or not. One of the reasons as to why they are not transmitting anything to Kang could have been hinted at in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's trailer. In the trailer, the film's events are seemingly started by Cassie Lang sending a signal to the Quantum Realm, which results in her, Scott, Hope, Janet, and Hank being sucked into the Realm. The trailer makes it clear that Janet fears who the signal was received by, before showing the first look at Kang the Conqueror.
This hints that it was Kang himself who dragged the group into the Quantum Realm after receiving the signal, giving a potential reason for Kang not being the recipient of the ten rings' signal as he surely could have pulled Shang-Chi in as well. However, the rings could definitely work differently from the type of signal Cassie created. If the rings are sending a signal to Kang, it could be because Kang had various weapons that were created to be the key to him winning the multiversal war, and the signal is his way of finding them. It could then be revealed that Kang has received the signal and that he simply has no way of retrieving the rings due to him being stuck in the Quantum Realm, hence the story of Ant-Man 3 in which it is likely Kang tries to escape.
Could Shang-Chi's Ten Rings Give The Avengers Help Against Kang?
If the former scenario is revealed to be the one the creatives at Marvel Studios go for, and the rings are not sending a message to Kang, the burning question would be who exactly is receiving the message. It is likely that whoever the mystery recipient would be is in opposition to Kang. However, just who it could be remains a mystery, and they must be tied to Shang-Chi in some capacity, as Shang-Chi's after-credits scene establishes that the message only began transmitting once he wielded the rings for the first time.
Given how the Multiverse Saga is yet to impact a lot of different facets of the MCU, making the rings send some sort of signal to another multiversal variant would be a good way to tie Shang-Chi to the overall story of Phases 4, 5, and 6. Whether that be another Shang-Chi variant who has faced Kang in his own universe, or someone else entirely remains to be seen. Another possibility though is a survivor of the first multiversal war. The first hint at Kang came in Loki, where He Who Remains, a variant of Kang, explained that he won the first multiversal war and formed the TVA to stop Kang variants from waging further war.
It is possible that another person who opposed variants of Kang survived the multiversal war, other than He Who Remains, and created elements of each universe that warns him of Kang's potential re-emergence. One of these aspects could be the rings, which are somehow tied to the Shang-Chi of both universes in order for the survivor to help the Avengers in their war. While this all seems fairly outlandish, it would certainly be possible. Regardless of the way it plays out, it is clear that the titular rings introduced in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Shang-Chi himself, are intrinsic to the MCU's Multiverse Saga going forward.
