The following contains spoilers forMs. MarvelEpisode 3, “Destined.”Part of the fun of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is seeing just how each of the very different properties connect to one another. An Eternal is friends with Thor. Bruce Banner and Tony Stark trade scientific theories. A young girl sees the Avengers fight in New York and grows up to be a new Hawkeye. The connections between the properties don’t just show the audience that they exist in the same universe, but they build the world into a believable one for the audience.
The Disney Plus seriesMs. Marvelhas made it very clear that Kamala Khan exists in the same world as the Avengers. She’s a fan of the heroes, particularly of Captain Marvel. Fans were already looking for connections between Kamala and Carol Danvers. What they wouldn’t have been looking for is a connection between Kamala and Shang-Chi.Ms. Marvel’sEpisode 3, “Destined,” does feature that surprising connection though as it’s revealed that Kamala’s bangle was found in a temple that depicted carvings of the Ten Rings.
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Kamala’s Mysterious Bangle
Kamala first dons the mysterious bangle that belonged to her great-grandmotherin the premiere episode of her series. The bangle awakens her ability to manifest and manipulate “hard light,” which is a bigchange from Kamala’s comic book powers. While Kamala pushes for answers from her family about the bangle, she doesn’t get any until Episode 3.
Najma, Kamran’s mother, reveals to Kamala that the bangle, like Najma and Kamala’s great-grandmother, are from another dimension she calls the Noor Dimension. The audience still doesn’t know much more than that about the bangle itself. It focuses Kamala’s ability, it has writing on it that Kamala thinks looks familiar, and it’s found in 1942 in an ancient temple on the severed hand of a blue being.
When Najma and the other Clan Destine members are looking for the bangle, the group stands in the middle of a temple that has already been looted. On the floor under their feet is the image of the Ten Rings inShang-Chi, carved into the stone.
The Origin Of The Ten Rings
Like Kamala’s power set being changed for the television series, theTen Rings have been slightly changed for the MCUas well. In the comics, the rings are small enough to go on fingers instead of the size of bracelets. Each ring also has its own different power. That doesn’t appear to be true in the MCU, though the audience hasn’t seen a single ring used on its own.
The origin of the Ten Rings in the MCU is still shrouded in mystery. Wen Wu found the rings at some point in the MCU’s history and used them to build his empire, just when or where he found them is never specified. The last the audience saw of them, they were being tested by Wong and emitting a signal that supposedly was being sent somewhere in space.
Even Carol Danvers said that in all of her space travels, she hadn’tseen anything like the Ten Rings before. While Carol likely hasn’t visited every planet that can house life, she has spent years traveling through the galaxy. The fact that she’s never seen anything like the Ten Rings might mean they aren’t from the dimension in which she travels. The Ten Rings and the bangle could have been depicted in the same temple because they were from the same place - the Noor Dimension.
What Could Their Connection Mean
The Ten Rings and the bangle both appear to manipulate energy to a degree. For Kamala, that energy is hard light. When Shang-Chi or his father use the Ten Rings, that’s in the form of energy blasts. The circular design, the ability to wear these items, and their energy manipulation make them very similar in makeup.
If both items turn out to come from the Noor Dimension, it wouldopen up another door to the multiverse for the MCU, something multiple TV and movie properties have done in Phase 4. It’s entirely possible that the comic book creators of the Ten Rings, the Makluans could still come into play in the Noor Dimension as well. Instead of being an alien race, the dragon-like beings could be extra-dimensional. Or the Djinn could be the creators of both items, providing a new take for both items.
Either way, it means that Kamala and Shang-Chi might have a future team-up in the MCU. It could also mean that Carol Danvers could be the one to out them in each other’s paths if Carol investigates the signal emitted by the Ten Rings in theupcoming movieThe Marvels.Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau are both slated to appear alongside Carol in theCaptain Marvelsequel, but it could be there that a connection between the Ten Rings and the bangle is actually brought to Kamala’s attention.
Ms. MarvelandShang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Ringsare currently streaming on Disney Plus.
