Ben Kingsley as Iron Man 3 Villain

[Chewy]

Kingsley as Mandarin is going to send some people into a tailspin of rage

[MarvelKnight]

I don't understand the Mandarin hate.. But, back to Kingsley, he'll be great, whatever his role is.

House of Sand and Fog. Check it out. Wonderful Kingsley movie (and it has Jennifer Connelly in it as an extra added bonus)

[L0ngsh0t]

Originally Posted by MarvelKnight

I don't understand the Mandarin hate.. But, back to Kingsley, he'll be great, whatever his role is.

House of Sand and Fog. Check it out. Wonderful Kingsley movie (and it has Jennifer Connelly in it as an extra added bonus)

I think mandarian is just kinda a goofy villain that hasn't aged particualrly well....I think if they were to update him a little bit he could be pretty cool though. "The Sorcerer" or something like that

[L0ngsh0t]

Originally Posted by MarvelKnight

I actually liked the way they did it in Armored Adventures, making Mallen a former SHIELD agent with a screw loose instead of just a run-of-the-mill terrorist.

That sounds really really cool

[MichaelChen]

Originally Posted by L0ngsh0t

I think mandarian is just kinda a goofy villain that hasn't aged particualrly well....I think if they were to update him a little bit he could be pretty cool though. "The Sorcerer" or something like that

Except he's not a sorceror, he's not even a sorcerer analogue. He has more in common with villains like Bane, Prometheus, even Gorilla Grodd, than he does with Dr. Strange.

Basically his thing is to run you ragged with scientific, psychological, and political prep, the come in an smash you to pieces with karate-chops.

[Hunter Rider]

I think he'll be a modified version of The Mandarin.

[UltimateWebhead]

Originally Posted by Hunter Rider

I think he'll be a modified version of The Mandarin.

I would love to see this.

[WildcatNC]

Originally Posted by Hunter Rider

I think he'll be a modified version of The Mandarin.

I agree. Probably HEAVILY modified. Black has already stated his contempt for the character as he is.

[The Morningstar]

For a great modern interpretation of Mandarin read the Knauf's run on Iron Man from a few years back. Think it might be collected as "Haunted".

[haikei_fw]

I like the pic that was floating around. He would make a great one, they would probably tweak it a bit. I think Marvel is trying to take a little page from the Nolan films from now on.

[kedrell]

Black has already said he wouldn't do the Mandarin so at this point I'm taking him at his word. So what villain could Kingsley be?

[RavenX]

so 3 films in and no Mandarin as villain??

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by SpideyFan866

Yes. Because Mandarin is more about martial arts and not magic.


I don't care. I think Sir Ben Kingsley is a PHENOMONAL choice for the villain in IM3, Mandarin or not...... though its likely Mandarin.


I don't see why it wouldn't be Mandarin considering this is likely RDJ's last solo IM movie.

MANDARIN?? Why Kingsley??? Why not a real Asian??? Is that racist, now?? Would there be an outcry if a minority played a villain??

[Boom]

They'd have to change the character's name then, wouldn't they? Considering Kingsley has no Asian heritage?

[The Morningstar]

Kingsley is half Indian. He was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji.

[Chris B]

A solid addition. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of him playing the Mandarin.

[cherokeesam]

Here's a novel concept:

What if
a) Kingsley *is* the villain, as they say;
b) Mandarin is *not* in the movie, as Shane Black has attested from the beginning;
c) The Ghost is the villain, as Shane Black has attested from the beginning; and
d) Kingsley is, um, playing the villain Shane Black has promoted all along....? I.e: The Ghost?

Yeah, I think Kingsley could make an interesting Indian/Middle-Eastern villain. A Chinese villain...? Not nearly as much. Why does everyone automatically leap to conclusions that Kingsley is being cast as a character that has been ruled out long, long ago?

[kedrell]

I don't think he'd be Ghost. Just a feeling I get. However, Ghost may not be the only villain. I could see Kingsley as Spymaster more than I could see him as Ghost. Cause' if Ghost is in it then I'd prefer not to see the actor's face throughout the whole movie and I doubt you'd need to hire Kingsley for that.

[Chris B]

I don't recall Black ever saying that the Ghost would be the villain, has he?

[Octoberist]

Yeah wen did Shane ever alluded to Ghost?

[Octoberist]

Originally Posted by Boom

They'd have to change the character's name then, wouldn't they? Considering Kingsley has no Asian heritage?

He's half Indian.

[cherokeesam]

Originally Posted by Chris B

I don't recall Black ever saying that the Ghost would be the villain, has he?

Bob Layton announced a long time ago that he was pressuring Shane to make Ghost the villain. Don't know how that went, but a good portion of the blogosphere has already started operating under the assumption that Layton was on the money. Mainly on the strength of a report by Yahoo Movies last year. But yeah, that was last year....things can change, obviously.

Showblitz.com is backing up latinoreview's earlier rumor that IM3 will follow the Extremis story line, and says that there'll be official confirmation of that soon; so Kingsley may, in fact, wind up playing someone like Mallen.

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I honestly can't take Kingsley seriously in genre fare after all the terrible movies.

[Iron_Stark]

Originally Posted by cherokeesam

Bob Layton announced a long time ago that he was pressuring Shane to make Ghost the villain. Don't know how that went, but a good portion of the blogosphere has already started operating under the assumption that Layton was on the money. Mainly on the strength of a report by Yahoo Movies last year. But yeah, that was last year....things can change, obviously.

Showblitz.com is backing up latinoreview's earlier rumor that IM3 will follow the Extremis story line, and says that there'll be official confirmation of that soon; so Kingsley may, in fact, wind up playing someone like Mallen.

I doubt Kinglsey will take a role like Mallen. More than likely the leader of the Ten Rings.

Mallen was pretty much a nobody, just an experiment gone wrong who Iron Man had to kill at the end of the story line. If Mallen is in the movie, I could see it go like the comics where he nearly kills Tony, Tony injects himself with the Extremis virus to survive his injuries and kills Mallen. Then they should add in the Haunted storyline and have Iron Man go after the Mandarin before he kills 90% of the world's population with the Extremis virus.

That would be the Tom Clancy type thriller Shane Black was talking about.

[Incredible Hans]

Funny thing is that we almost had the Mandarin in IM1.

It's in the "making of" on the Iron Man DVD.
RDJ had a scene where he is referring to Mandarin. Originally IM1 should have two villains.