Ben Kingsley is The Mandarin!

[Spuzz]

Originally Posted by MichaelChen

Besides, he's not really a sorceror even in the MU. He's a Chi mystic, more Iron Fist than Dr Strange.

Hmm. I've had many misconceptions about the character in that case.

[Chris B]

I do hope they kept the rings as actual miniaturized weapons. I hope they didn't replace them with him simply being given the Extremis virus.

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by Chris B

I do hope they kept the rings as actual miniaturized weapons. I hope they didn't replace them with him simply being given the Extremis virus.

I do wonder, though, how he would be the mastermind behind the Extremis virus being implemented, without using it on himself as well or having some sort of failsafe against someone who used it.

[MichaelChen]

Originally Posted by Spuzz

Hmm. I've had many misconceptions about the character in that case.

Where did you get the idea that he was a mage?

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by MichaelChen

Where did you get the idea that he was a mage?

Probably the Iron Man direct-to-DVD animated movie Marvel put out in '07. In it, Mandarin was an ancient wizard, who was summoned/resurrected to the modern world by a cult devoted to him.

[MichaelChen]

Oooh, the Ghostbusters II rip-off movie. No, comic Mandarin is nothing like that.

Comic Mandarin was an aristocrat who spent all his fiefdom's money training himself at science and martial arts, turning himself into a Dr Frankenstien/Remo Williams hybrid at the cost of bankrupting his fiefdom. The government seizes his land because he can't pay his taxes so he declares war on civilization.

[metaphysician]

I *think* that might have been retconned. . . or seemingly retconned, I recall some unreliable narrator aspects. . . but yeah, basically. And then, after becoming a pulp mastermind villain, he found a crashed alien ship with magic rings inside it, which augmented his chi powers to inhuman levels. . .

Comic Mandarin is a bit of a kludge. A cool kludge, but a kludge nonetheless.

[ThePowerCosmic]

Originally Posted by Chewy

He was most intimidating in The Love Guru

Yep. Got a lot of nightmares from that movie.

[kaijunexus]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Probably the Iron Man direct-to-DVD animated movie Marvel put out in '07. In it, Mandarin was an ancient wizard, who was summoned/resurrected to the modern world by a cult devoted to him.

LOL! Oh man, I made it about 20 minutes into that thing and just threw my hands up and said "DONE".

[Dark Raven]

What was really annoying about that movie is that it seemed to be telling Iron Man's origin with Yinsen, but then we find out later that he's actually already Iron Man and has other armours stored back at Stark Enterprises.

Also I didn't like the stuff with his father. At one point the first live action IM movie was going to be about his father who would become War Machine. Imagine if that happened!

[IronGirl299]

Originally Posted by kaijunexus

LOL! Oh man, I made it about 20 minutes into that thing and just threw my hands up and said "DONE".

Lol glad to see I wasn't the only one!!!!!!!

[DocHoliday]

So I'm guessing based on reorts that his presence is going to be something akin to Palpatine's in ROTJ. Sort of present throughout with a big presence in third act.

[RavenX]

so is the Mandarin still going to be Asian?

who's playing him?

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by RavenX

so is the Mandarin still going to be Asian?

who's playing him?

The character will probably have Asian roots. The actor, Ben Kingsley, is a Brit whose dad is of South Asian (Pakistani) descent.

[HighFivingMF]

I'm not asking for a picture, but did anyone snap a picture of Mandarin's appearance in the Comic-Con footage?

[Spuzz]

Kevin Smith was raving about how cool Mandarin looked in the CC footage. I'd really like to see it. But that of course would be bootleg and nothing I would want any part of.

[RavenX]

Originally Posted by spideymouse

The character will probably have Asian roots. The actor, Ben Kingsley, is a Brit whose dad is of South Asian (Pakistani) descent.

thanks.

that's.......interesting........

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by RavenX

thanks.

that's.......interesting........

What's intriguing is that Ben Kingsley is a highly respected Oscar-winning actor, even if he is not of the same ethnicity as the Mandarin in the comics.

[TheVileOne]

Why is it so intriguing?

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by TheVileOne

Why is it so intriguing?

What's intriguing is that they have gone for the best talent/fit for the role instead of finding it absolutely necessary to match the character's ethnicity. It shows that Marvel does not find that the Mandarin's ethnicity absolutely has to be what it is in the comics in order for him to be just as menacing or threatening to Iron Man and what he stands for.

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by spideymouse

What's intriguing is that they have gone for the best talent/fit for the role instead of finding it absolutely necessary to match the character's ethnicity. It shows that Marvel does not find that the Mandarin's ethnicity absolutely has to be what it is in the comics in order for him to be just as menacing or threatening to Iron Man and what he stands for.

If that's the case, in future, the Red Skull can be Italian (oh wait, we've had that already), Luke Cage can be white, and no-one's ethnicity is sacred.

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by Dark Raven

If that's the case, in future, the Red Skull can be Italian (oh wait, we've had that already), Luke Cage can be white, and no-one's ethnicity is sacred.

Yes, that would be the slippery slope. The conversation before Kingsley's casting was that some characters' ethnicities are not crucial to their characterizations--Nick Fury, Heimdall, and Kingpin have been recent objects of debate (and Red Skull and Luke Cage would not fit into this category). As for the Mandarin, I think it's certainly necessary that he have a claim of lineage back to Genghis Khan, but I don't know if it's specifically necessary that he be exactly half-Chinese, half-British (besides, of course, the logic of his name). We will see how the script and Kingsley's acting will bring out the characterization, and it will be then when we will be able to judge if the actor's ethnicity was all that crucial to the character.

[metaphysician]

I've been saying for a while that it'd make perfect sense to change movie Mandarin into some form of central asian, to go along with the location/ethnicity shift of Tony's origin.

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by metaphysician

I've been saying for a while that it'd make perfect sense to change movie Mandarin into some form of central asian, to go along with the location/ethnicity shift of Tony's origin.

How would you keep the name? Maybe he's obsessed with peeling tiny oranges.

[ironmaidenrules]

Perhaps he calls himself the mandarin in some sort of homage. Btw I think the rings should be connected to that very recent alien invasion that just happened in NYC...unless we are to believe that he always had the rings then...i dunno