Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a praised and celebrated film across the globe for so many reasons. The Marvel Studios film doesn’t just stand out from the rest simply for its seemingly effortless ability to introduce new characters to the MCU and produce a flawless plot that unfolded organically on screen. Fans are also giving credit and drawing attention to the film’s incredible visual effects.
This may seem like an obvious nod, given that Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi is full of brilliant hand-to-hand fight choreography with strong roots in martial arts. Yet, given the groundbreaking nature that Shang-Chi brought to the MCU, the film’s VFX team has remained a bit in the shadows. However, it was the notorious mid-credits scene that all Marvel fans anticipate at the end of an MCU project that really allowed for Weta VFX supervisor Sean Walker's work to shine.
The mid-credits scene featured 2 beloved superheroes, and they are materialized on screen through holographic effects. The scene that starts out with characters Shang-Chi and Katy posted up at a bar drinking when Wong materializes through a portal right before their eyes. Wong gestures and signals for them to come with him, where they all meet up with holographic projections of Brie Larson's Carol Danvers and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner. VFX supervisor Walker opened up about the process behind bringing that scene to life during an interview with Variety.
Walker stated, “I just sat down two compositors and two effects artists, and just said, ‘Come up with something and let your imagination go wild. Within four days they came up with the entire sequence. Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner was in his own laboratory, but we had to bring them all together into one final shot.” Walker shared that stars Awkwafina, Larson, and Liu were also all on separate stages that day. Not only did the amazing visual effects produced in the film grab fan’s attention, but also seeing Ruffalo back in complete Bruce Banner form was a bit surprising.
The events that followed Avengers: Endgame seemed to suggest that Ruffalo's character had found a way to somehow combine and mesh his own self with the Hulk. Yet, this mid-credits scene is proposing that he has gone back solely to Bruce Banner, at least physically. The mid-credits scene also revealed that Banner is back in his laboratory, although the reason still remains a mystery. Disney Plus does have a new upcoming series, She-Hulk, that perhaps will fill in some gaps for fans as to what the future holds for the Hulk.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Variety