However, a reference to Shang-Chi being called Gangnam Style when he first came to America doesn't match this timeline, as the song wasn't released until after 2010.
The movie doesn't touch on whether or not that happened, but Shang-Chi would have to take place in 2026 for this to be true and line up. This would make Shang-Chi the furthest movie in the MCU timeline so far by a long shot. Taking this information at face value, it would mean that Shang-Chi would have to be snapped. This moves the timeline up to 2020: two years after Thanos' snap and three years before Avengers: Endgame and The Blip. Shang-Chi says that he met Katy soon after coming to the United States and has known her for 10 years. He's suggested to be born in 1996 (or shortly thereafter), but he leaves the Ten Rings when he is 14 years old, which would be in 2010. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' problems come with breaking down Shang-Chi's life. Related: Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie, Ranked Worst To Best It is through this story, though, that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings becomes the latest movie to break the MCU timeline. The film primarily focuses on Shang-Chi's life, showing him being raised by Wenwu within the Ten Rings organization, defecting from the group as a teenager, and spending the next decade living a normal American life until he's pulled back into his father's schemes. The general story of Shang-Chi does fit well in a post- Endgame MCU timeline, but the specific details it includes and references it makes are what will create some confusion. It takes place after Avengers: Endgame and includes almost entirely new characters whose stories can be tailored to avoid conflict with the timeline.
In theory, Shang-Chi should be an easy movie to slide into the MCU timeline. While they mostly don't damage the MCU's canon in the grand scheme, that hasn't stopped canon-obsessed viewers from trying to piece it all together. While that is changing in Phase 4 with the introduction of the multiverse, the inconsistencies have existed for years now. Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.įitting Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings into the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline is easier said than done, so where exactly does it take place in a post- Avengers: Endgame universe? The MCU has been built on the idea that everything exists in a single universe and timeline.