Ben Kingsley is The Mandarin!

[Sebastos]

Mandarin in Invincible Iron Man #511:

[The Infernal]

Anyone else notice his right hand looks weird?

[tamron]

Guys I think would make for a good Mandarin.

Andy Lau


Chen Daoming


Collin Chou


Daniel Dae Kim


Depending on the aliens involved in Avengers, it could set up perfectly for Mandarin's standard origin (ie, him discovering finding alien tech in a downed spaceship and mastering its use).

I think it's very important that they establish Mandarin is a threat with or without rings. I don't want him portrayed as a clown who just lucked into power, he should be extremely dangerous regardless.

[childeroland]

I'd throw Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's hat into the ring.

[JackMercy]

Originally Posted by childeroland

I'd throw Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's hat into the ring.

Never say never, but... this Tony Leung seems to have an aversion to Hollywood. I don't see him being interested in this still slightly-hard-to-work-out-on-screen-without-offending "Asian mystic bad guy."

[MichaelChen]

Daniel Dae Kim looks the most like I think of the Mandarin as looking: bit of a caveman brow, distinct epicanthic folds, very much a Mongol barbarian look, yet at the same time he looks good in a modern business suit.

[Raiden]

Looks like no Mandarin for IM3:

Shane Black Calls Mandarin "A Racist Caricature"

[RealIrOnMaN]

Never say never. As long as Black actually delivers - I don't care. And I'm saying this as an Iron Man fan. I just want to see a great movie, that will proudly conclude the Iron Man trilogy. I will accept everything as long as it won't be similar to Iron Man 2.

[TheVileOne]

RIM are you saying that Black is playing with us? Because that comes off as rather far fetched?

I mean, Favreau started the first movie and he seemed to have the idea to work in the Ten Rings and the Mandarin later and there was that kernel that he was sort of telling the first chapter of a longer story that would work in the Mandarin later. My feeling is that Favreau was too scared to go there. I do think Black's statement of making "half-choices" in the movie was accurate. Like they refused to do Demon in A Bottle. So instead Tony justifiably gets fun drunk because he thinks he's dying and doesn't have much time left and there aren't really any consequences to it.

[The Infernal]

Originally Posted by TheVileOne

RIM are you saying that Black is playing with us? Because that comes off as rather far fetched?

I don't think that is what he is saying. He seems to be saying that he just hopes Black delivers a strong IM3. More or less.

[TheVileOne]

Other people have already said that Black is "pulling our legs." Which I'm not sure how they got that from what he said.

Maybe Dark Aegis and Living Laser will be the villains .

[The Infernal]

I'm with you there. I think it's a knee-jerk reaction for certain fans to find some sort of logic to hold out hope when on the face of things it doesn't look the chances of what they want to happen are that great.

Black was specifically asked about Mandarin in regards to IM3 and responded dismissively that the character was a racist characterture. It's reasonable from that response to assume at the least that he isn't fond of the character. It's not like it's a great leap in logic to guess that he isn't likely to be fond of the idea of him as the villain in IM3.

[BigThor]

Originally Posted by The Infernal

I'm with you there. I think it's a knee-jerk reaction for certain fans to find some sort of logic to hold out hope when on the face of things it doesn't look the chances of what they want to happen are that great.

Black was specifically asked about Mandarin in regards to IM3 and responded dismissively that the character was a racist characterture. It's reasonable from that response to assume at the least that he isn't fond of the character. It's not like it's a great leap in logic to guess that he isn't likely to be fond of the idea of him as the villain in IM3.

Exactly

[Shadowlord X]

Originally Posted by RealIrOnMaN

Never say never. As long as Black actually delivers - I don't care. And I'm saying this as an Iron Man fan. I just want to see a great movie, that will proudly conclude the Iron Man trilogy. I will accept everything as long as it won't be similar to Iron Man 2.

Why does it have to be a trilogy?

Early on RDJ publicly stated that he loved the Tony Stark character and would happily do 10 IRON MAN movies.

I hoping for more than 3.

[Shadowlord X]

Here's a question wrt the Mandarin.

Given the recent gl debacle (which is still very fresh in the minds of the ga) which involves a 'magic space power ring', is now the right time to have a villain with 10 'magic space power rings'???

(No disrespect to gl fans)

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Shadowlord X

Here's a question wrt the Mandarin.

Given the recent gl debacle (which is still very fresh in the minds of the ga) which involves a 'magic space power ring', is now the right time to have a villain with 10 'magic space power rings'???

(No disrespect to gl fans)

Short answer: probably not the right time.

*Edit: longer answer: keep in mind that the ten rings are already out there. We've already seen two of them, on the fingers of Raza and Obadiah Stane. If those rings had any powers at all, Raza and Stane would have used them.

And if Mandarin is the mysterious shadow broker behind the Ten Rings terrorist organization, he clearly has no interest in gathering those ten physical rings together himself, since at least two people are *known* to be wearing them.

And, if the ten rings are already here and in possession of Mandarin and/or the Ten Rings terrorist group, then Fin Fang Foom becomes redundant and is no longer needed in the Marvel Film Universe. (Which would shoot down the popular internet theory that the Avengers' "leviathan" is, in fact, Foom.)

[Shadowlord X]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Short answer: probably not the right time.

*Edit: longer answer: keep in mind that the ten rings are already out there. We've already seen two of them, on the fingers of Raza and Obadiah Stane. If those rings had any powers at all, Raza and Stane would have used them.

And if Mandarin is the mysterious shadow broker behind the Ten Rings terrorist organization, he clearly has no interest in gathering those ten physical rings together himself, since at least two people are *known* to be wearing them.

And, if the ten rings are already here and in possession of Mandarin and/or the Ten Rings terrorist group, then Fin Fang Foom becomes redundant and is no longer needed in the Marvel Film Universe. (Which would shoot down the popular internet theory that the Avengers' "leviathan" is, in fact, Foom.)

I would disagree with some of this. The terrorist organisation 'the 10 rings' could be symbolicly named. The rings worn by other individuals (?; I only remember 1) could be replicas given to signify a position of some rank within the organisation. Neither of the ring(?s) seen have demonstrated any powers.

More than likely the Mandarin has the original 10 power rings which aid him in running this organisation.

I doubt IRON MAN comic fans would be happy with a Mandrain depicted without actual rings of tech power.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Shadowlord X

I would disagree with some of this. The terrorist organisation 'the 10 rings' could be symbolicly named. The rings worn by other individuals (?; I only remember 1) could be replicas given to signify a position of some rank within the organisation. Neither of the ring(?s) seen have demonstrated any powers.

More than likely the Mandarin has the original 10 power rings which aid him in running this organisation.

I doubt IRON MAN comic fans would be happy with a Mandrain depicted without actual rings of tech power.

And I agree with all of that.
But that would give us a Mandarin who already has the rings, and would make Fin Fang Foom redundant and utterly unnecessary (in Avengers, IM, or any other film).

I just think that Favreau himself has hurt the chances of Mandarin showing up, with the way he set up the "Ten Rings" in IM1, and the fact that he's done absolutely nothing to reference Mandy specifically in either of his two IM films. The statute of limitations has run out, more or less; if Mandarin ain't in it yet, he ain't gonna be in it ever.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

And I agree with all of that.
But that would give us a Mandarin who already has the rings, and would make Fin Fang Foom redundant and utterly unnecessary (in Avengers, IM, or any other film).

I just think that Favreau himself has hurt the chances of Mandarin showing up, with the way he set up the "Ten Rings" in IM1, and the fact that he's done absolutely nothing to reference Mandy specifically in either of his two IM films. The statute of limitations has run out, more or less; if Mandarin ain't in it yet, he ain't gonna be in it ever.

I think instead of Justin Hammer, Favearu could have used Varko/Whiplash as the main antagonist against Stark in IM2, plus his shadowy backer/financial supporter aka The Mandarin lurking in the background (like Moriarty did in Sherlock Holmes). That way, they can set him up in IM3 without any problems.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

And I agree with all of that.
But that would give us a Mandarin who already has the rings, and would make Fin Fang Foom redundant and utterly unnecessary (in Avengers, IM, or any other film).

I just think that Favreau himself has hurt the chances of Mandarin showing up, with the way he set up the "Ten Rings" in IM1, and the fact that he's done absolutely nothing to reference Mandy specifically in either of his two IM films. The statute of limitations has run out, more or less; if Mandarin ain't in it yet, he ain't gonna be in it ever.

Mandarin has gone without the need for Fin Fang Foom for decades. Foom IS unnecessary. He didn't show up in an Iron Man comic until much later in IM's run. Certainly not in the 60s or 70s or early 80s. It's not like Mandarin and Foom have been inextricably linked to each other since their conception.

[Lord]

But the best way to have Fin Fang Foom in an Iron Man movie is with Mandarin

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Lord

But the best way to have Fin Fang Foom in an Iron Man movie is with Mandarin

If the rumor is true and that levithan in The Avengers movie indeed turns out to be Foom, then it will be introduced without the presence of Mandarin. Personally, I don't see how these two need to be together anyway, and they can always rewrite the origin of Mandarin's ten rings to fit the MCU. You should know by now that movies are not required to be consistent with their comics counterpart.

[The Overlord]

Perhaps a good question is, what is the best to way to portray Mandarin on screen so that he doesn't come off as a racist caricature?

[TheVileOne]

How about not make him a racist caricature? Make him an actual character.

I'm not the biggest Armored Adventures fan, but Mandarin in that series is hardly what I would call a racist caricature.

But honestly, if Black's not a fan of the character don't force him to use it. We don't need another Spider-Man 3 situation here. I'd really be happy if we could get Madam Masque at least.

[BigThor]

I'd be happy if we could get Living Laser as one of the villains in this film.