WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, now in theaters.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings featured the tragic twist that the Master of Kung Fu's antagonistic father Wenwu was actually being manipulated all along by the Dweller-in-Darkness. Taking on the voice of Wenwu's late wife Ying Li, the monstrous extra-dimensional being preyed on Wenwu's grief and convinced him that he needed to breach a dragon-scale-enforced gate that was keeping the Dweller-in-Darkness from invading the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while Shang-Chi avenged his father by seemingly destroying the Dweller-in-Darkness with an epic blast channeling the powers of the Ten Rings, the Lovecraftian villain may have a role yet to play in next year's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Shang-Chi's aunt Ying Nan described the Dweller-in-Darkness and its terrifying legion as creatures from another dimension that previously attempted to take over Ta Lo and the main MCU's Earth before being confined by the gate. With the Ten Rings capable of breaching the gate and identified by Wong and several Avengers as not being from any previously discovered material in the MCU, Shang-Chi may have quietly set up the larger stakes of the Doctor Strange sequel. And given the Dweller-in-Darkness' usual modus operandi of constantly whispering to its victims and manipulating them by appealing to the emotional goals they want the most, the monster may reappear with a different target in mind: Wanda Maximoff.
Wanda was last seen in the post-credits scene to WandaVision, having sequestered herself away after defeating the villainous Agatha Harkness and studying the magical tome the Darkhold in her astral form. As Wanda reads the text, intent on learning more about her magical destiny and a way to reunite with her lost children, she hears her twin sons calling out to her... or at least that's what she thinks. There is the distinct possibility that the Dweller-in-Darkness, or another similarly powered creature from the recesses of the multiverse, might be calling out to Wanda, manipulating her into opening a different breach into the MCU so they can invade it with their ravenous, soul-sucking legions.
Wanda is confirmed to resurface in the Doctor Strange sequel, though the circumstances of her return and role in the story remain tightly guarded. Elizabeth Olsen has teased the film will feature a different approach to her character than her previous performances, with speculation that the film may pit Stephen Strange against a wayward Wanda Maximoff. And with Wanda searching for a way to reunite with her children, she may be manipulated like Wenwu was, with both characters' love of family being used against them.
More than just adding the eponymous martial arts superhero to the MCU, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings may also have quietly teed up the multiversal stakes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and suggested that dark forces could be turning the Scarlet Witch against the Sorcerer Supreme. The Dweller-in-Darkness was nearly able to successfully invade the MCU by targeting Wenwu, and the monster and its ilk may try to replicate this strategy by converting a bonafide Avenger to their fiendish cause as Phase Four of the MCU continues.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is currently in theaters, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens in theaters on March 25, 2022.
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