Shang-Chi’s Ten Rings Just Got a Major Change in the Comics

Shang-Chi may be the master of the Ten Rings, but he’ll need to have them in his possession for that to happen. The Marvel hero is the current holder of the mystical Ten Rings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe following Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but they have a longer history inside the comics. The villainous Mandarin has typically wielded the Ten Rings in the Marvel Universe during his battles against Iron Man, but a recent development has placed the Ten Rings in the hands of Ironheart. But the Ten Rings have a knack for warping the mind of whoever wears them, and Riri Williams has fought against those urgings. Luckily, that isn’t a concern for her anymore.

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Invincible Iron Man #14. Continue reading at your own risk!

Invincible Iron Man #14 comes from the creative team of Gerry Duggan, Andrea Di Vito, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Joe Caramagna. Instead of focusing on the titular Iron Man, the majority of the story puts the spotlight on Ironheart and the X-Men’s Forge, who are off on a mission in space. Ironheart and Forge are working to build an armada made out of the mysterium metal to combat the anti-mutant organization Orchis and its Stark Sentinels. Part of Ironheart and Forge’s journey takes them to Nidavellir, home of the Asgardian metalsmiths. After successfully building the armada, dwarves try to steal the mysterium from Ironheart and Forge, but are ultimately thwarted.

Forge had to stop Ironheart from killing the dwarves, with the Ten Rings influencing her actions yet again. The X-Man comes up with an idea to help Ironheart, and it involves scattering the Ten Rings across the galaxy. “Maybe they’ll end up where they’re needed,” Ironheart says. She also doesn’t know where they will end up, just in case she gets the urge to search them out. It wouldn’t be surprising to see an event or story arc down the road in a Marvel comic that involves heroes and villains pursuing the Ten Rings.

What does the future hold for Marvel’s Ten Rings?

The post-credits scene for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings featured Avengers’ Bruce Banner, Captain Marvel, and Wong studying the rings, trying to determine where they came from. They learn that the Ten Rings are over a thousand years old, and they’re sending out a beacon. To whom remains the big mystery. Now, the destiny of the Ten Rings in the MCU and the comics are almost the same. The Ten Rings obviously come from space or some other reality in the MCU, and now they are lost in space in the comics.

Shang-Chi has yet to show back up in the MCU, but with future Avengers movies on the docket for Marvel Studios, it’s only a matter of time before he makes his presence felt again.

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