Shang-Chi: Legend Of The Ten Easter Eggs!

The Ten Rings have been present in the Marvel cinematic universe ever since the beginning, from the terrorist network in the first Iron Man, all the way to the weapons buyer in Ant Man, whose character was adorned with a Ten Rings tattoo peeking from the neat folds of his shirt collar. And now, with the recent release of Shang-Chi, we finally have full canonical context behind this wealth of recurring Easter eggs.

Shang-Chi, however, certainly doesn’t fall short of bringing us a truckload more to discover.

Here are ten from the plethora of Shang-Chi Easter eggs that we enjoyed!

1.) Kung Fu Hustle.

First up, we have a fun nod to one of Shang-Chi’s visual inspirations!

When we see Shang-Chi in his make-shift garage bedroom, take a peek towards the left wall and you’ll see a poster for Kung Fu Hustle, the 2004 martial arts action comedy directed by Stephen Chow. Like the movie Shang Chi, Kung Fu Hustle also features the use of iron bracelets as a martial arts tool. Despite there being sixteen as opposed to ten of them, at first glance they bear a striking resemblance to the Ten Rings owned by Wenwu.

2.) Blast From The (distant) Past.

The cage fighting club owned by Xialing is titled “The Golden Daggers Club”. This is a direct nod to earlier Shang-Chi comics, specifically Master Of Kung Fu #44, published in September 1976, in which “The Golden Daggers” was the name of one of Fu Manchu’s subordinate leagues.

3.) Blast From The (recent) Past).

Inside Xialing’s modern rendition of The Golden Daggers, we see actress and stuntwoman, Jade Xu, return to Marvel after her role as a Black Widow agent back in July 2021. However, Jade Xu is credited in Shang-Chi with the character name of Widow, confirming that this is indeed the same Black Widow agent from the Red Room room, now fighting at The Golden Daggers in Macao. Small world, huh?

4.) Wait, there’s more...

The Black Widow agent wasn’t the only one to make to quick cameo in Xialing’s Golden Daggers Club; next time you watch the movie, take a look at her opponent. With orange glowing skin, the Widow’s opponent appears to have been a recipient of the extremist treatment that took place in 2013’s Iron Man 3. I guess it’s uplifting to know that someone got away...

And we certainly can’t forget the surprise reappearance of Abomination, also fighting at the Golden Daggers Club! Honestly, I think this one speaks for itself.

5.) Madripoor.

Just before Shang-Chi’s arena fight against Xialing, try hitting pause and taking a moment to examine the background. In the back of one shot, we the see the dull outline of what is unmistakably the flag of Madripoor, the fictional South East Asian Island that, due to its strict non-extradition laws, is a magnet for Marvel villains to hang out.

Madripoor has been a recurring fixture of the MCU since its first appearance in 1985. Good to know its still going strong!

6.) It’s ya boi, Klev!

During the beautifully choreographed fight scene that takes on a moving bus in the first leg of the film, the stuntwork is interrupted by Klev, a vlogger and live streamer played by the American actor and comedian, Zach Cherry. Fun fact though, this wasn’t Klev’s first rodeo. He also appears in 2017’s Spiderman Homecoming, telling Spiderman to do a flip, making him a humorously nostalgic Easter egg for fans. It’s good to know that Klev hasn’t given up on his vlogging dreams.

7.) Streaming From Beyond The Trance.

Following on from Klev’s little cameo, check out the comments on his live stream of Shang-Chi’s bus fight! If you zoom in, you can see a user going by the name of ‘AuntieDarkeness’. Clearly enjoying Klev’s latest live stream, they post a comment saying “Unreal!” on a purple back-bar. This is more than likely a nod towards Fantastic Four’s purple-clad Auntie Agnes/ Agatha Harkness.

Hey, maybe she was allowed the grace of tuning into a stream or two while in her trance? It kind of warms the heart that of all the millions of streamers out there, she picked our boy Klev.

8.) I’m not Korean!

This one is more of a fun meta-reference.

You’ll probably remember the amusing scene in which Shang-Chi has to explain that the fact that he’s not Korean. This is more than likely a reference to Simu Liu’s role in the 2016 Canadian sitcom series, Kim’s Convenience, in which Liu plays the son of a Korean couple that run a corner shop in Toronto. The show was a big hit in Canada and the US and this being considered Liu’s breakout role, the assumption that he was Korean became frequent to the point of absurdity.

It was definitely fun to see him and the Shang-Chi scriptwriters having a cheeky little jab at it!

9.) The creatures of Ta Lo.

Cute animal sidekicks have been a recurring facet of Disney movies ever since the beginning, so it’s no surprise that we’ve started seeing them pop up in Star Wars and Marvel since the change of ownership.

In this case, we had Morris, the winged, faceless creature displaced from his home in Ta Lo. When the movie takes us to Ta Lo, however, we find that Morris certainly isn’t the only strange and fantastical thing to exist in this realm. From the giant lion-esque cat creatures to the dog with multiple tails, the beings seen in Ta Lo are not just designs born from the imaginations of comic book artists but creatures based on actual Ancient Chinese mythology.

Dijiang, Huan and Fu Dogs are just a few of the inspirations used to populate Shang Chi’s realm of Ta Lo.

10.) Rest in peace, Brad Allen.

If you, like most, waited out the credits for the customary Marvel post-credit scene, you may have noticed that the Shang-Chi movie was dedicated to a Brad Allen. Brad Allen was, in fact, the movie’s stunt coordinator. Having also been a part of Jackie Chan’s stunt work team, Allen played a major role in creating the classic Kung-Fu movie vibe present in the majority of Shang-Chi’s epic combat scenes.

In August 2021, only a month before the release of Shang-Chi, Brad Allen tragically passed away at age 48.

Did you spot all of these Easter eggs or did this list surprise you? Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments!