'Shang-Chi' features some of Marvel's darkest moments. Here's what to know about them and what it all means for the future of the MCU.
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Jacob Sarkisian
Sep 3, 2021, 20:30 IST
Simu Liu plays Shang-Chi.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Warning: There are spoilers for "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" below.
"Shang-Chi" features a late turn for the weird and dark in the movie's climactic battle.
These are some of the darkest moments in the MCU. Insider breaks down what it all means.
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"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is one of the MCU's boldest movies. The climactic third-act battle is proof of that.
Warning: There are spoilers for "Shang-Chi" below.
Shang-Chi and his companions are forced to protect an ancient village from the forces of Wenwu, Shang-Chi's father and the MCU's final answer to its Mandarin problem.
Wenwu mistakenly thinks that breaking down a gate that the village protects will release his trapped wife. Instead, it unleashes demons from a malicious dimension ruled by an evil, ancient creature known as the Dweller. These scenes will likely scare a lot of kids, and it suggests that Marvel is beginning to lean into its darker and weirder territories.
Here's what to know about the beings that show up in the film's big battle scene and what it all means for the MCU going forward.
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What dimension is the Ta-Lo gate protecting in 'Shang-Chi'?
The gate is protected by the people of Ta-Lo, the ancient village that Shang-Chi's mother, Jiang Li, comes from. They've spent centuries guarding the gate that separates Earth from an evil dimension, not dissimilar to the Dark Dimension from "Doctor Strange."
It's not entirely clear what the dimension in "Shang-Chi" is, but the fact that literal demons came out of it, while also being located behind a gate embedded into rocks, could suggest a Hell Dimension.
Behind this great gate are a vile horde of flying demons who can only be killed by dragon scale weapons, similar to how the white walkers in "Game of Thrones" can only be killed by dragonglass.
These demons don't just kill you, either. Instead, they wrap their tentacles around you and suck your soul out of your body via your mouth, leaving a lifeless corpse behind.
The demons are stealing people's souls to bring back to feed their master, who grows larger and stronger with every soul he ingests.
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Who is the 'Shang-Chi' villain, the Dweller?
The Dweller is an ancient being who feasts on the souls of other living creatures, which makes him stronger. The larger the creature, the larger its soul, and the more power the Dweller gets. That's why he goes for the soul of the Great Protector, the dragon that lives in Ta-Lo.
Thankfully, Awkwafina's Katy, Shang-Chi, and his sister Xialing manage to kill the Dweller before he can suck the soul out of the Great Protector.
The movie never explains his exact nature or his origins, but the Dweller appears to be some sort of demon and closely resembles H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic entity Cthulhu. In fact, everything about this final battle was pretty Lovecraftian in the way that cosmic dread was used to scare audiences.
The Dweller also seems to be based on a creature in Marvel Comics known as the Dweller-in-Darkness. This demon is a disembodied head with tentacles at the bottom of it - making it look like a demon octopus (again, pretty Cthulhu-like).
In the comics, the Dweller-in-Darkness has been an enemy of Doctor Strange multiple times.
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What does this all mean for the MCU?
First, it means that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is embracing the stranger corners of its comics background. While "Shang-Chi" is the biggest example of this turn so far, Marvel fans have already encountered another strange mystical being this year: Alioth in "Loki."
With the mysterious dimension and the demons seen in "Shang-Chi," it feels like Marvel is purposefully expanding those dark worlds leading into its next phase of films and TV shows.
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