Shang-Chi Post-Credit Scene Confirmed By Director

Does Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings have a post-credits scene? According to director Destin Daniel Cretton, the answer is yes, Shang-Chi will indeed carry on the Marvel Studios tradition of including a bonus scene in its end credits. As Marvel Studios fans know, these post-credits scenes take on one of two forms: a "button scene" that reveals a big twist and/or new developments for the Marvel Cinematic Universe; or humorous scenes where the gang over at Marvel has one last laugh with fans. So which kind of post-credits scene will Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings offer?

Well, like all filmmakers that are trained in the Marvel Studios media-dodging program, Destin Daniel Cretton doesn't let anything slip about what fans will get to see at the end of Shang-Chi. All Cretton would offer is that there is indeed a Shang-Chi post-credits scene, and that Marvel fans want to see it. "Audiences should most definitely stick around!" Cretton told Fandango, after being asked directly about it.

The Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings post-credits scene could actually be one of the more pivotal ones that we get for a Marvel movie. Like Shang-Chi's MCU Phase 4 companion Black Widow, the timeline of the film suggests that it may not truly advance the storyline of the MCU Phase 4 until the post-credits scene plays out. Instead, it seems that a lot of Shang-Chi will be about establishing the foundation of the character and his world - as well as the larger threat of the Ten Rings organization and its combination of technological and mystical might, as envisioned by Wenwu (Tony Leung), aka The Mandarin. Where Shang-Chi and his father's organization stand after The Blip is a major question that fans want to be answered. According to what Cretton has revealed about Shang-Chi's place in the MCU timeline, the film could have one of the most forward-moving post-credits scenes in the entire MCU saga...

First reactions to Shang-Chi should be arriving today, as the initial press screening embargo lifts. Those reactions could be pivotally important as Shang-Chi has become something of a cultural lightning rod as its release date approaches. Marvel's first Asian-led film has been hit with accusations of being under-marketed by Marvel Studios, while Disney's new CEO Bob Chapek reffered to the film's September release as an "interesting experiment" due to the film releasing exclusively in theaters during another surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. That terminology got a stern clapback from Shang-Chi star Simu Liu, who posted the following rally cry:

"We are not an experiment. We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I'm fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US."

Will you be answering Simu Liu's call and seeing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in theaters on September 3rd? Or will you be waiting to see it on Disney+ around mid-October?