Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, opened over the weekend to nearly universal acclaim. Most of the music in the film veered towards pop and hip-hop (the soundtrack was curated by the music collective known as 88rising, a record label that primarily focuses on Asian and Asian-American musicians). But one of rock’s biggest classics has a big presence in the movie: the Eagles’ 1976 classic “Hotel Calfornia.”
Obviously, if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to experience spoilers, stop reading now.
(L-R): Xialing (Meng’er Zhang), Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) in Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.
The song first comes up when Shang-Chi’s pal Katy, played by Awkwafina, says that when she gets herself into a jam, she usually sings “Hotel California” to confuse people and get out of the situation. When she and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) find themselves in huge battle with a bunch of badguys, she uses the trick to escape.
The song is just one of a few guest appearances in the post-credits scenes, one of which involves Benedict Wong’s character Wong (who was first introduced in Dr. Strange). Wong explains to his new friends that they need to prepare for an even bigger threat than the one that they just faced. But instead of doing the responsible thing (resting), they end up at a karaoke bar singing — you guessed it — “Hotel California.”
Shang-Chi looks to be a huge success; Variety reports that the film had an even bigger debut than expected, collecting $90 million in its first four days of release and setting a new high watermark for the Labor Day holiday weekend, a traditionally slow weekend for new film releases.