10 Greatest Callbacks In MCU History
9. A Chicken Dish - Shang-Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings
What Iron Man 3 did with the Mandarin borders on criminal. The movie took one of Tony Stark’s greatest ever rivals from the source material and essentially turned him into a joke by way of Aldrich Killian and Trevor Slattery. Eight years later however, the character was done justice... in a way.
Though not using the Mandarin name, Wenwu was the real leader of the Ten Rings, and was a stronger antagonist and character in general than Aldrich Killian in just about every way. He even found time in his one and only MCU appearance to make fun of Iron Man 3, just like the rest of us.
During dinner with his children, Wenwu explained a little of his own history, including how an American appropriated his Ten Rings army. This was a clear nod to Killian in Iron Man 3, but it wasn’t just a reference; Wenwu also called out how ridiculous it was for him to name himself after a chicken dish.
This may have doubled down on making the Mandarin a joke, but in the face of the real leader of the Ten Rings, it made more sense to discredit Killian even further, just to make sure the nasty business of the Iron Man 3 twist was fully in the rearview mirror.