Is the MCU playing the long game with its post-credits scenes, or have some characters just been forgotten? Marvel fans are concerned whether teases at the end of movies like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which hit theaters back in 2021, will ever get any pay-off.
The mid-credits scene saw Wong (Benedict Wong) introduce Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) to Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to discuss the origin of the rings. While this may have hinted at a new team-up, we’ve yet to see Shang-Chi again in the four years since the movie was released.
“I always assumed that the signal from those rings would tie into the Shang-Chi sequel. And that Shang-Chi and Katy meeting Wong, Bruce Banner and Carol Danvers would set up Shang-Chi joining the Avengers by the time of the fifth Avengers movie,” wrote one user on Reddit.
“That’s what I assumed as well, except Shang-Chi came out nearly 4 years ago now and we haven’t seen the character return in anything,” another replied. “That’s been the biggest problem with the post-Endgame MCU imo: they introduce new characters and do nothing with them. Shang-Chi should have popped up in another project by now, even in just a post credit scene or something.”
It’s not just Shang-Chi, either. “Remember when Scorpion was teased at the end credit scene for Spider-Man: Homecoming and everyone was excited for Michael Mando to play him,” someone else pointed out.
“When is the last time they addressed ANY post credit scene?” wrote another user. “Of the last 10 post credit scenes, how many did they address? Remember when the post credit scene was super hype because it was an indication of what was coming next?”
“I will never forget the hype I had watching Thor: The Dark World’s mid-credits scene: ‘One down. Five to go,'” said another, referring to the Infinity Stones reference at the end of the 2013 movie.
Some fans have a theory about the Shang-Chi mid-credits scene, though. “It is rumored that Kang was the creator of both Shang-Chi’s ten rings and Kamala’s band, so maybe they will shift that concept to either doom or somebody else in Doomsday,” another user said. Of course, Kang has now been written out of the MCU, and the next Avengers movie will now focus on Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom instead – so maybe Avengers: Doomsday will finally provide some answers.
“They got back to Sam Sterns after 15 years,” quipped someone else, referring to the return of Tim Blake Nelson’s character from 2007’s The Incredible Hulk in the recently released Captain America: Brave New World. “Bit of patience.”
The MCU’s next big-screen offering is Thunderbolts*, which will be released on May 2 as the final installment in Marvel Phase 5. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other upcoming superhero movies on the way from Marvel and DC in 2025 and beyond.