So Cap's Shield is tattooed on Mandarin's neck. Anyone care to explain?

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by Nave 'Torment'

Those are some excellent suggestions! I don't know which one I'd want more! I personally think it's more coherent than that, as Hunter Rider's said, it's got to be linked up with the Iron Patriot armor in some capacity.

I like the theory of Mandarin being a militant leader in the 70s when CapAm was "the hero who doesn't show" -- he'd be a Godot figure, making the interpretation of him being an anarchist, that is, fundamentally believing that nothing inherently exists plausible, more cohesive. Of course, anarchists have a more positivist approach to human nature, they believe that humanity can be inherently good and self-sustaining without the 'corruption' of reason and system -- like the Joker, Mandarin might be looking at Stark as the ultimate symbol of rationality and hence Order, and therefore opting for chaos. He calls himself a "teacher," just as the Joker or any number of terrorists consider themselves to be "ahead of the curve" and being in this position to bestow some sort of universal inner-wisdom. Anarchism, politically speaking, strives for a utopian cause. It's all there.

As for the tat, what if they do make a more closer connection to Bin Laden and show how the Ten-Rings had been armed by the US, like how the Taliban was aided by the CIA in the Afghan-Russian wars and so we have the Mandarin as this psuedo-SHIELD operative who was part of a failed super-soldier project. That could explain his 'A'. It would also bring that theme of guilt/responsibility that Stark felt regards his weapons in the first film back to this one.

I'm not convinced that it's an Anarchist logo, I mean it could be, but that blue in the middle does suggest the American flag. Even if it is an anarchist sign it's meant to look like the captain's shield.

The tat suggests a possible connection with the Iron Patriot.

Very well said.

Surfer

[Vartha]

but the Iron Patriot is Rodey.
PERSONALLY it looks like the Avengers "A" at the center of the circles. we don't really KNOW that's supposed to be CAP's shield. Could be a Bullseye plane and simple for targeting the Avengers seeing as he says "there are no heroes"

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Vartha

but the Iron Patriot is Rodey.
PERSONALLY it looks like the Avengers "A" at the center of the circles. we don't really KNOW that's supposed to be CAP's shield. Could be a Bullseye plane and simple for targeting the Avengers seeing as he says "there are no heroes"

Doubt it.
There's a difference in the font between an Avengers A and a punk-rocker anarchy A, and the photo leans heavily towards the latter. Plus, Mandarin's crusade or jihad or whatever clearly began long before the Avengers ever materialized, and most likely long before anyone even knew Cap was still alive.

He's not after the Avengers; just one in particular, who's managed to **** Mandarin's world up for the past 4 years.

[Nave 'Torment']

Thanks Surfer.

Yeah the Ten-Rings is supposed to go all the way back to the feudal era right? Colour me convoluted but I always loved how the Ten-Rings in the first film was supposed to be real-world factions, what if it's purely symbolic in the sense that each ring is simply a token of allegiance from a different terrorist group, so that what the Mandarin represents is this ultra-terrorist leader behind all other operating factions? Each ring is one faction, and altogether he's in charge of all of them? Do we really need them to do something magical?

The Iron Patriot maybe Rhodey but it belongs to the US military and I'm assuming has something to do with Aldrich Killian. Maybe he poses as a bigger threat than just catalysing the Extremis "virus" ? If he's behind the Iron Patriot and working for the Mandarin, we see they're taking out the military and the guy with the big-guns. Tony's going off-the-radar this time, I wonder if we'll have a subplot where he's framed and wanted by SHIELD or something? Sort of making the burgeoning debate of "why isn't Fury helping him out" turning out to be "coz he's also after him." I mean, so far we have what? 1) Extremis armor storyline / Aldrich Killian, 2) Coldblood, assuming to be related to the extremis storyline somehow but operating as your generic supervillain, and 3) The Mandarin and ten-rings.

It's a good way of not going overboard while at the same time feeding into the "hundreds of people wanting to kill" Stark.

[Smashlilman]

Originally Posted by Vartha

but the Iron Patriot is Rodey.
PERSONALLY it looks like the Avengers "A" at the center of the circles. we don't really KNOW that's supposed to be CAP's shield. Could be a Bullseye plane and simple for targeting the Avengers seeing as he says "there are no heroes"

Actualy it looks like the A on Stark tower.

[Frank Castle]

Originally Posted by M-2

Maybe he grew up with stories about Captain America and how great this man was, and got a Tattoo on his neck... but then his family and friends were killed in a massacre as the world turn there backs on the situation.

He just hoped that a SuperHero would come and save the day, but no one showed up, there were no heroes.

Now the world praises a man that built an Iron Suit that keeps it selfishly for himself, flying around calling himself a superhero. Now Mandarin wants to show this Iron Man that without his suit all he is, is just a ordinary man who bleeds, fears and will die!

That is my favorite and i think most likely thing

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Smashlilman

Actualy it looks like the A on Stark tower.

....and, it still looks like an anarchy "A" as well.



So here's another theory, and I'm only half-joking: what if a prop man simply got the symbol wrong, and thought that the "A" that's on Cap's forehead was actually on the shield instead of a star?

[Vartha]

Wow forgot about that "A"...You're making me feel old here Sam lol

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Vartha

Wow forgot about that "A"...You're making me feel old here Sam lol

That's why I keep leaning towards the "Captain Anarchy" thing....it's a fairly universal symbol, but it had its heyday in the punk rock era, and is mostly recognizable to people "of a certain age" --- like you, me, and Mandarin there.

[exploding youth]

What if it is some form of controlling device for the Iron Patriot Armour? Extremis virus in the tattoo ink?

[irapogi]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dent

Maybe Ben Kingsley got a Cap tat after Avengers and producers decided to not edit it out for ****s and giggles?

Probably not hehe, in IronMan 2, they deliberately took out Mickey Rourke's tattoo on his chest, 'cos he had one for his dead dog ... named LOKI.

[Metal Spidey]

Even if it does stand for stArk or the Avengers why would it be on the back of his neck? Usually crazy people who do things like that have it on their arm or chest so they can look at it easily and mark/cut it in anger.

[spideyboy_1111]

I wonder if it's "AIM's" secret logo.... I mean... AIM is a division of Hydra in a capacity... and Hydra's enemy was cap. Add to that what better symbol to go with "AIM" than a target?

[Tristan_McClark]

Originally Posted by spideyboy_1111

I wonder if it's "AIM's" secret logo.... I mean... AIM is a division of Hydra in a capacity... and Hydra's enemy was cap. Add to that what better symbol to go with "AIM" than a target?

Nice theory. AIM is in the movie, right? I haven't been keeping up with IM3 news. I'm trying to avoid these parts of the boards and doing a poor job of it lol.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by spideyboy_1111

I wonder if it's "AIM's" secret logo.... I mean... AIM is a division of Hydra in a capacity... and Hydra's enemy was cap. Add to that what better symbol to go with "AIM" than a target?

The MCU Mandarin doesn't strike me as the type of guy to promote a corporation (even if he turns out to have ties to them) by tattooing their logo on the back of his neck.

Movie AIM likely is a very different entity than the comic-book version. There's probably no link to HYDRA at all, since MCU HYDRA was broken up at the end of WWII in CATFA (although I'd be willing to bet they'll enjoy a resurgence in later Marvel movies --- "cut one head off and two more grow in its place" and all that).

[MichaelChen]

He seems to have have a strong sense of the ironic. I mean, he's an ethnic Mongol who uses a Chinese title. Best guess is it is somehow sarcastic.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by MichaelChen

He seems to have have a strong sense of the ironic. I mean, he's an ethnic Mongol who uses a Chinese title. Best guess is it is somehow sarcastic.

That's my thinking.
The gung-ho "'MURICA!" T-shirt he's seen to be wearing in the press-release photo proves his sense of satire and irony. I fully believe the "A" tattoo is in a similar vein, and is meant to make fun of America's Favorite Captain with an Anarchy symbol.

[2bornot2b]

Are you guys ready for some spoilers? I happen to have some inside knowledge and I would not have released this info just yet if you guys were close to guessing certain things in the movie's plot, but I'm not seeing anyone here who's even come close to answering some of the movie's most mind-boggling scenes. So here we go:

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!

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1) The Mandarins AVENGERS Tattoo explained: Remember the end of the avengers when people were getting their faces painted and getting tattos all over the world? How come nobody ever though about that? jezus, its not that hard to fiqure out. He got it so he could act like he's a fan of the avengers as a disguise to get close to tony. Being one the the films most comedic acts done by kingsley, Happy Hogan gets tricked to thinking he's just a fan that really wanted to meet tony just so he could infiltrate his house and plant some tech into his suit. DUH! BOOM Major spoiler! This will also explain alot of the other spoilers i'm about to give you.

2) The Mandarins Rings: They're actually enhanced technical remote devices that have a more advanced version of the extremis virus made specifically for him by Aldrich Killian who was working for him all along. Aldrich Killian was selling tech to the terrorists in the way Tony never wanted to do in the First movie. AGAIN, really? really? You guys couldn't even figure that out?
The rings allow the mandarin to control sophisticated equipment using his rings in conjunction with the extremis virus, including tony's suit that was sabotaged and thus tossed tony around like a rag-doll , thats why he looked so beat up.


3) Tony makes a compilation suit out of all his last armors in a way to technically confuse the Mandarins rings so that he couldn't access and control any-one-part of his suit since tony mixed them up so randomly, giving him the advantage to beat the mandarin WHILE attacking his minions with an army of 40 other suits all controlled by a newly hacked and modified version of extremis virus that Maya Hansen fixed inside tony's body. (yes, she turned on killian after she found out he was working for terrorists, plus had feelings for tony) This of course was after the events of Iron Mans defeat by the Mandarin earlier in the movie. BOOM another spoiler.

4) Pepper Pots "kinda" becomes the rescue, only because while the big last fight takes place, tony uses his mind to telepathically summon pieces of one the the 40 armors to her body while she was being held captive by Aldrich killian. She then break lose with the armor and kicks killians ass.


Thats all for now....just can't figure why no one's figured this stuff out yet..

[cherokeesam]

Mr. Stark, if you could do the honors, please:



Thank you, sir

[Whiskey Tango]

Originally Posted by 2bornot2b

How come nobody ever though about that? jezus, its not that hard to fiqure out.

AGAIN, really? really? You guys couldn't even figure that out?

just can't figure why no one's figured this stuff out yet..

[Son of Coul]

I think he's expecting an "Emperor's New Clothes"-like reaction, like

"Oooh of course, I'm smart enough to have always assumed this! OBVIOUSLY the tattoo is a disguise. Time to post a CBM article crediting this man!"