We have seen plenty of death in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in Shang-Chi Legend of the Ten Rings, not everyone makes it out alive. However, it turns out that there was another version of the action movie, where a central perished character survived—warning, major Shang-Chi spoilers ahead.
In Shang-Chi’s ending, we witness the dramatic death of Wenwu (Tony Leung), as the Dweller-in-Darkness claims his soul. His death gives Shang-Chi the Ten Rings, which the superhero then uses to beat the dark dragon. During a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, director Destin Daniel Cretton shared that this critical scene wasn’t always in the cards, and that there was another version of the Disney movie that saw Wenwu survive. But as production continued, the decision to off Wenwu was finalised.
“Some things just work, and some things don’t. We’re constantly searching for the version of the story that feels most authentic to the characters,” Cretton explained. “I mean, even though these characters are operating on a very operatic level, there’s still things that you try that just feel like cheats. And that was one of them. But, you know, also in the MCU, anything can happen.”
The director also discussed the teaser that occurred during the fantasy movie’s post-credit scene in the same interview. The teaser hints at a future appearance of the character Fin Fang Foom, an alien that resembles a dragon, making his big-screen MCU debut and potentially giving us something to look forward to for Shang-Chi 2.
“If you look into the comics, if you watch that end-credit sequence, it’s not – you don’t have to dig very deep to at least point yourself in a direction. It’s definitely there,” Cretton said.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is going strong at the box office and currently holds 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is out in theatres across the US and UK. The next Marvel project fans can look forward to as we venture further into Phase 4 is Eternals, which opens on November 5.