Everything In The MCU That The Ten Rings Are Responsible For
Jessica Cortez Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will see the return of the terrorist organisation - but what role have they played in the MCU to date?
Here's all you need to know about the Ten Rings, the terrorist organization in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings, and their impact on the MCU's history. The Ten Rings have been one of the MCU's recurring threats, a shadowy group of terrorists who covet advanced technology. Their numbers are vast, and their presence has been felt across the globe; according to Iron Man, members of the Ten Rings speak Arabic, Urdu, Dari, Pashto, Mongolian, Farsi, and Russian.
Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings revealed the organization was founded millennia ago by Wenwu, a man who had discovered powerful artifacts called the Ten Rings - mystical objects that granted him immortality and tremendous power. He became a warlord, initially operating in the open but gradually sinking into the shadows, shaping world history and becoming a legend. The opening scenes of Shang-Chi revealed Wenwu's agents spread to every corner of the globe, toppling governments, committing assassinations, changing the course of history.
The Ten Rings have been part of the MCU since the beginning, and they've had a profound impact on Marvel's greatest heroes. The past is the key to the present and the future, even in the MCU, so here's a guide to the actions of the Ten Rings so far.
The Ten Rings Were Responsible For Creating Iron Man
The Ten Rings made their MCU debut back in 2008's Iron Man, where they were portrayed as a group of high-tech terrorists who'd been causing trouble in the Middle East for years. Obadiah Stane had been secretly arming the Ten Rings for years, and struck a deal with them to kill Tony Stark on his behalf. Instead, a Ten Rings cell based in Afghanistan took Stark prisoner, and attempted to force him to make weapons for them. They miscalculated, and Stark built the first Iron Man armor, breaking out and subsequently launching a one-man war against the Ten Rings.
Iron Man introduced the Ten Rings as a tremendously well-organized group of global terrorists, who had access to some of the most advanced weapons on the planet. While the Ten Rings had been a major (albeit illegal) client of Stark Industries, there's absolutely no reason to assume they didn't also have similar contacts in other arms manufacturers. The Ten Rings were particularly interested in having Tony Stark build a Jericho missile for them, and it's noteworthy they believed their Afghanistan cell had the resources to have one made. While Obadiah Stane fumed that Stark built the Iron Man armor in a cave with a box of scraps, he was oversimplifying; Tony had access to some seriously advanced tech when he fashioned a miniature Arc Reactor and his first armor.
The Ten Rings Helped Whiplash Target Tony Stark
According to tie-in comics such as Iron Man 2: Agents of SHIELD, Iron Man continued to take down Ten Rings operations across the globe. In return, they supported Whiplash's attempt to exact revenge on Tony Stark. As shown in Iron Man 2, an agent of the Ten Rings gave Whiplash a ticket to Circuit de Monaco, which Stark would be attending. It's reasonable to assume they also arranged Whiplash's cover as a member of the pit-crew.
The Ten Rings Obtained Scans Of The War Machine Armor
In the aftermath of Iron Man 2, Iron Man's ally War Machine found himself locked in combat with Ten Rings cells across the globe. The Iron Man 3 Prelude established the basic operating structure of the Ten Rings, largely as a result of Rhodey's investigation. Each Ten Rings cell is apparently completely autonomous, with the leader having just the one contact in another cell. That level of autonomy makes them pretty difficult to fight, as each cell is acting independently and there's no easy way to work your way up the chain of command. War Machine suspected the Ten Rings had operatives inside the U.S. military whose job was to ensure the Ten Rings' leadership were never compromised.
He was probably right, given his battle against the Ten Rings culminated in a trap. The terrorists faked a bio-terror attack in Hong Kong, and when War Machine responded, they attacked him with stolen Hammer-tech - a prototype tank powered by a miniature nuclear reactor, which if damaged could have nuked the entire city. While Rhodey outsmarted the Ten Rings and escaped, they were able to get detailed sensor scans of his War Machine armor. By coincidence, all this was happening at the same time as the Chitauri invasion and the Battle of New York.
The False Mandarin And Extremis
Marvel Studios threw a curveball with the third Iron Man entry. Fans were primed to expect Iron Man 3 to introduce the Mandarin at last, but instead, director Shane Black took a different approach. Corrupt businessman and industrialist Aldrich Killian recognized the potential of the Ten Rings, and tapped into legends of their leadership to create a "boogeyman" called the Mandarin. He used the Mandarin, and his Extremis bio-engineering, to launch terrorist strikes across the United States. Killian's goal was to manipulate the US Government by capturing the president himself, but fortunately, he was foiled by Iron Man and War Machine.
The interesting question is whether or not there was even any real relationship between Killian, the fake Mandarin, and the real Ten Rings. The Iron Man 3 Prelude, for example, definitely shows real Ten Rings operations; but it also featured a member of Killian's team. The most likely reason, from an out-of-universe perspective, is Marvel Comics hadn't been briefed on the Mandarin twist. From an in-universe point of view, though, it may mean the Ten Rings were monitoring Killian and didn't mind him committing havoc in their name, while they waited to see how events played out.
The Mandarin's Revenge on Trevor Slattery
The Mandarin twist didn't go down well with comic book readers, who'd expected a more accurate version of the iconic villain. As a result, Marvel filmed a one-shot called "All Hail the King" as something of an apology. This revealed the actor who had played the Mandarin, Trevor Slattery, had been imprisoned in Seagate Penitentiary for his crimes. After he had served some of his time, the Ten Rings sent in an extraction team to take him to the real Mandarin, who did not appreciate having his identity stolen.
This was a smart fix; it allowed Iron Man 3's version of the Mandarin to coexist perfectly with the idea the villain was really a part of the MCU all along. Slattery didn't know it, but his portrayal was in fact inspired by legends about the real Mandarin.
The Ten Rings Attempted To Obtain PymTech
The Ten Rings faded into the background of the MCU after Iron Man 3; perhaps the fake Mandarin's scheme had put them on the world's radar a little too effectively, and so they wanted to keep their heads down for a while. Whatever the case, though, they were clearly still active; in 2015's Ant-Man, the Ten Rings were one of the groups who tried to purchase the Yellowjacket PymTech from Darren Cross.
The Ten Rings Could Have Been Obtaining Other Advanced Tech
The attempt to acquire the Yellowjacket suit may suggest the Ten Rings have played another, more subtle role in the MCU in recent years. Spider-Man: Homecoming revealed the Vulture had been selling alien and advanced tech on the black market for years, and it's possible the Ten Rings were one of his clients. Meanwhile, Ant-Man 2 introduced an illicit businessman called Sonny Burch. When Burch learned the potential of Pym Particles, it didn't take him long to find a buyer; the identity of Burch's buyer remains a mystery, but it could be he was working for the Mandarin and the Ten Rings.
The Ten Rings Released The Dweller-In-Darkness
In Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wenwu led a crack team of agents through the portal to Ta-Lo. He had been unwittingly manipulated by the Dweller-In-Darkness, becoming a pawn to help him escape his ancient imprisonment. Wenwu was killed by the Dweller-In-Darkness, and when the dust settled from the battle for Ta-Lo his daughter Xialing took charge of the Ten Rings. The post-credits scene of Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings revealed Xialing has her own sinister agenda - meaning the Ten Rings will surely be a force to be reckoned with in Phase 4 and beyond.
