Ben Kingsley is The Mandarin!

[MarvelKnight]

Originally Posted by Vartha

ah thought each was designated to SOMEONE lol

That would be cool if he had a hit list with each bullet on his shirt for the movie.

[Hawkingbird]

Apparently people were awe struck by Ben's performance.

[TheVileOne]

Eh we'll see. No one has really seen it other than people who worked on it or are associated with it.

[Whiskey Tango]

So what all do we know about Mandarin?

I'm calling disillusioned Vietnam vet.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Whiskey Tango

So what all do we know about Mandarin?

I'm calling disillusioned Vietnam vet.

Spot on, or something close to that. I'd say he's a 60s radical who probably got involved with groups like The Weather Underground and the Baader-Meinhof Gang and such, and eventually made a career out of being a terrorist without a cause. Combination Osama bin Laden, Che Guevara, and Carlos the Jackal.

[ElMariachi]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Spot on, or something close to that. I'd say he's a 60s radical who probably got involved with groups like The Weather Underground and the Baader-Meinhof Gang and such, and eventually made a career out of being a terrorist without a cause. Combination Osama bin Laden, Che Guevara, and Carlos the Jackal.

Why would he want to kill Obama?

[Fudgie]

He clearly has a thing against heroes. I bet he fell afoul of one before.

[metaphysician]

Nah, when one makes speeches like that, its either a general "I am an awesome and terrible villain" act. . . or it means one was *disillusioned* by a hero in the past.

I could buy it either way: the Mandarin might well have *never* believed in heroes, having never met an actual one. Thus, he assumed the world was a place filled with venal, weak, petty individuals occasionally blinded by self-delusion, and so forged himself into the kind of person who could achieve greatness in such a world. If so? I expect that when Tony Stark shows his unexpected heroic strength, the Mandarin will switch from disdain to outright rage.

[Fudgie]

I hope it ain't just I'm an awesome villain speech. That's just weak and shallow. Give him a bit of depth.

[TheHeatKitchen]

Originally Posted by Fudgie

I hope it ain't just I'm an awesome villain speech. That's just weak and shallow. Give him a bit of depth.

He will have PLENTY of depth. i can assure you of that. You can tell just by the fact that you can't tell his exact ethnic background, his dialect or anything. The character is so complex and Kingsley always puts so much work and dedication into his performances that he wouldn't allow a character this big and important to not have depth.

Basically... Kingsley is the man. Don't worry. Trust him.

[Figs]

Originally Posted by metaphysician

Nah, when one makes speeches like that, its either a general "I am an awesome and terrible villain" act. . . or it means one was *disillusioned* by a hero in the past.

Captain American maybe...who knows. I just can't wait to find out why he has that tattoo on his neck.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by metaphysician

Nah, when one makes speeches like that, its either a general "I am an awesome and terrible villain" act. . . or it means one was *disillusioned* by a hero in the past.

I could buy it either way: the Mandarin might well have *never* believed in heroes, having never met an actual one. Thus, he assumed the world was a place filled with venal, weak, petty individuals occasionally blinded by self-delusion, and so forged himself into the kind of person who could achieve greatness in such a world. If so? I expect that when Tony Stark shows his unexpected heroic strength, the Mandarin will switch from disdain to outright rage.

Yeah, I'm sure there's a helluva lot more context to that brief quote. Because frankly, it's outright stupid: "First lesson: there are no heroes." That's total bull**** and even Mandarin knows it --- there's heroes all around, from the everyday variety to full-blown folk heroes and, of course, superheroes.

So the actual speech probably continues with Mandarin offering some sort of qualifying description of the term: "First lesson: there are no heroes. There are only people who......(fill in the blank)"

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Yeah, I'm sure there's a helluva lot more context to that brief quote. Because frankly, it's outright stupid: "First lesson: there are no heroes." That's total bull**** and even Mandarin knows it --- there's heroes all around, from the everyday variety to full-blown folk heroes and, of course, superheroes.

So the actual speech probably continues with Mandarin offering some sort of qualifying description of the term: "First lesson: there are no heroes. There are only people who......(fill in the blank)"

The quote isn't ******** from the Mandarin's point of view. The Mandarin seems to be the ultimate anarchist/cynic, one who believes that if you strip away all the trappings of civilization and break a man down to his core, he’ll lose all of the illusory beliefs that go along with the civilized mindset. Beliefs in heroism, in justice, in the ultimate triumph of technology over nature and good over evil, doubtless seem foolhardy to him.


So the Mandarin set out to attack the exemplar of the ascendancy of technology and modernity, humanity’s only knight in shining armor, Tony Stark, in order to prove the rightness of his own philosophy. By destroying Stark and the technological empire he has created, by stripping away the illusion of heroism Stark has built up around himself, Mandarin can teach humanity that there truly are no heroes, only weak and arrogant human beings existing within a fragile civilization that can easily crumble – indeed, a civilization that should crumble.


In Iron Man 2, Stark hubristically declared himself the greatest phoenix metaphor of his time. In Iron Man 3, he will have to prove that once again by returning to the metaphorical cave and rebuilding his life once again from the equivalent of a box of scraps. In the end, of course, Tony will prove the Mandarin wrong by once again rising from the ashes of utter defeat to overcome his enemies. Iron Man will prove that in his world there really are heroes. And that is what it's all about.

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by TheHeatKitchen

He will have PLENTY of depth. i can assure you of that. You can tell just by the fact that you can't tell his exact ethnic background, his dialect or anything. The character is so complex and Kingsley always puts so much work and dedication into his performances that he wouldn't allow a character this big and important to not have depth.

Basically... Kingsley is the man. Don't worry. Trust him.

In Kingsley I trust.

[MichaelChen]

Yeah, in The Mandarin's mind there are no heroes, only the Strong and the Weak, predators and prey. Civilization is an offensive lie.

[Fudgie]

Sounds deep to moi.

[Mr. Stark]

Might be alone here but I really like Ben's voice in the trailer. It isn't as bone tingling as Bane or anything but it is a really evil intimidating sound that I think is fit for Tony's major baddie.

[Fudgie]

You're not alone. I love it.

[IronGirl299]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stark

Might be alone here but I really like Ben's voice in the trailer. It isn't as bone tingling as Bane or anything but it is a really evil intimidating sound that I think is fit for Tony's major baddie.

It's awesome. He really sounds like a villain who knows his **** and I'm eager to see just how much more sinister he can be. Even the intonation is very good. HEROES. THERE IS NO SUCH THING.

[Fudgie]

It's a voice I can imagine making grand speeches.

[matrix_ghost]

Originally Posted by Fudgie

In Kingsley I trust.

If he does do it for the money ( Prince of Persia , The Love Guru , BloodRayne just to name a few) then no.
However if he sees the script is right and everyone is bringing their A- Game , then he does put the effort into it.

[The Infernal]

I'm hoping Ben's Mandarin is really memorable. IM3 has a good cast and director, so I hope he has done something people would like to see again and again.

[Raoul Duke]

the choice kingsley has made with the voice of the mandarin is very interesting. i like it. a lot.

[Fudgie]

Originally Posted by matrix_ghost

If he does do it for the money ( Prince of Persia , The Love Guru , BloodRayne just to name a few) then no.
However if he sees the script is right and everyone is bringing their A- Game , then he does put the effort into it.

Ehhh yeah I suppose. But those flicks ya mentioned were crap in general.

[pr0xyt0xin]

تحلل dissintigration
قوة ساحقة impact
برود ice/snow
لهب flame

google translated some common Mandarin ring words into Arabic. It could be as simple as that tbqh. They aren't clear enough and my knowledge of Arabic isnt good enough to be sure.