Iron Man 3 Ben Kingsley is The Mandarin!

[Golgo-13]

Hmmm I wonder, how is he going to be able to fight Iron Man one on one?

Since we know there's not going to be any alien energy or technology behind his rings.

The trailer speacks about 'NY changing everything'. Maybe The Mandarin gets ahold of some the Chutari tech from Avengers...

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

I wish the Mandarin looked more slick. He kind of looks too dingy in the teaser.

 

[Doc Ock]

The trailer speacks about 'NY changing everything'. Maybe The Mandarin gets ahold of some the Chutari tech from Avengers...

Thats what I'm thinking, it would be a way to loosely tie-in The Mandrin having alien tech in the comics.

 

[Blight616]

Is that a dragon behind him, possible Fin Fang Foom reference?

 

[Asgard]

Ben's line delivery was weird to me.

 

[Brother Jack]

The voice actually reminded me a little of what Tom Hardy did with Bane. There's a British feel to it but also hints of other dialects that creates an odd kind of accent all its own.

 

[MarvelKnight]

Ben's line delivery was weird to me.

The voice actually reminded me a little of what Tom Hardy did with Bane. There's a British feel to it but also hints of other dialects that creates an odd kind of accent all its own.

The first 4 or 5 words he speaks, the first thing that came to my mind was Liam Neeson. No idea why. Lol

It does seem like there was an interesting accentuation on a few words. Reminded me of when the Avengers Trailer came out and there was an odd accentuation to what Ruffalo was saying about being a 'time bomb' and all that jazz.

 

[Excelgeneration]

Not seeing the Mandarin as Chinese or at least east asian looking with that badass fu man chu style gets to me really bad. I just can't look at the new Mandarin. Feels horrible even though I know this will more than likely be an awesome film. Totally uncomfortable every time I watch that trailer... I don't know how to get over it!

 

[MarvelKnight]

Take solace in the fact that Marvel Studios has hardly led us astray (save IM2 of course). Also, it's not coming out til '13. There's time for it to grow on you I'm sure. Especially since there will be only more and more footage and pictures and every other thing out there that it'll be hard for you not to look at him at some point lol.

You'll be okay

 

[Incredible Hans]

I mean he seems to be a mish-mash of a bunch of cultures we "don't like". I'm not so opposed to the Kingsley cast, but they seem to add Chinese or "Oriental" appearance. He just comes off as some guy it a culturally insensitive Halloween costume. I don't see, why, outside of the rings, why they didn't completely overhaul the character. Now he truly is a collage of stereotypes.

But maybe that's the point. His character is supposed to be an ironic play on stereotypes.

 

[cherokeesam]

But maybe that's the point. His character is supposed to be an ironic play on stereotypes.

Exactly.
Instead of being a racist caricature, he's a wannabe *playing* a racist caricature, and that makes him even more of a *****e. Which is kind of the point --- Marvel seem to be acknowledging that Mandarin *is* a racist stereotype that should have never existed past 1970; and to make amends, they portray the character as so blinkered that he doesn't even realize that his warrior fantasy is completely outdated, offensive, and totally off the mark.

Hopefully, Chen Lu gets a chance to tell Mandy in this movie: "You're not Chinese; you're just a wannabee. You don't know a *thing* about us."

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Exactly.
Instead of being a racist caricature, he's a wannabe *playing* a racist caricature, and that makes him even more of a *****e. Which is kind of the point --- Marvel seem to be acknowledging that Mandarin *is* a racist stereotype that should have never existed past 1970; and to make amends, they portray the character as so blinkered that he doesn't even realize that his warrior fantasy is completely outdated, offensive, and totally off the mark.

Hopefully, Chen Lu gets a chance to tell Mandy in this movie: "You're not Chinese; you're just a wannabee. You don't know a *thing* about us."

this^ your observation is spot on.

 

[Gold Samurai]

Gandahi's going to kick ass next summer

 

[Dark Raven]

Do people think Mandarin is going to say "Be the change you wish to see in the world"?

 

[Venomfan]

what makes the original mandarin a racist caricature anyway? isn't he supposed to look like some kind of chinese emperor or something?

 

[Incredible Hans]

Personally, I like the new concept of the movie Mandarin. A guy who "steals" from all cultures and thus ironically deconstructs our perception of these cultures. At least that's how I understand it. I'm now really interested to see how it's gonna be in the movie.

But I'd say it's a little bit hard to say that "classic" Mandarin shouldn't have existed after 1970. Yes, originally he had a "yellow peril" background, but then he became combination of a martial artist and a oriental scientist that could be taken somewhat more serious.

By thinking about it, the whole background of Doctor Doom is full of gypsy stereotypes, as is Wanda's and Pietro's. Red Skull is a class German nazi stereotype. There are dozens of Russian stereotypes in comics and films. Gambit is a cajun stereotype (a ladies' men and a bad boy...).

It's interesting that sofar, no one complained about the fact that Marvel's two major villains - Doom and Magneto - are gypsy and jewish.

 

[terry78]

Their backgrounds aren't really as blatant as Mandarin's was with the Fu Manchu beard and the robes and what not. It would be like Doom dressing with a scarf on his head and barefoot and Magneto wearing a yarmulke instead of the helmet.

 

[Dark Raven]

Their backgrounds aren't really as blatant as Mandarin's was with the Fu Manchu beard and the robes and what not. It would be like Doom dressing with a scarf on his head and barefoot and Magneto wearing a yarmulke instead of the helmet.

But it's not like this "Fu Manchu" beard and robes only originated with Fu Manchu. It's been around centuries before with all the Chinese emperors and warlords.

I wish we didn't live in such PC times. We would get some cooler interpretations of things then where Mandarin could be just based on Chinese figures that predated any idea of yellow peril racist cariactures.

In the Mummy 3, for example (which isn't a great movie btw), is Jet Li's character seen as yellow peril? I don't think so. He's just a resurrected Chinese emperor from centuries before with whom the main heroes clash.

 

[Incredible Hans]

Their backgrounds aren't really as blatant as Mandarin's was with the Fu Manchu beard and the robes and what not. It would be like Doom dressing with a scarf on his head and barefoot and Magneto wearing a yarmulke instead of the helmet.

That's why I said Doom's background is full of gypsy stereotypes. Every time they show scenes from his past, it looks like a gypsy fairy tale.

And the people in Doomtown are all dressed as if the city is stuck in the earlty 20th century. And lots of historical buildings and a castle. A stereotypical European town.

Wanda had a costume for while that looked gypsy. Or at least it looked like what the artist thought was gypsy.

Black Knight: dressed like an English warrior from the Middle Ages. Doctor Druid: dressed like a celtic druid.

Vanguard: a Russian guy with hammer and sickle? Ursa Major: the proverbial "Russian Bear"?

Baron Blood: a guy who's from Romania, a nobleman and a vampire. Very innovative.

Many Japanese characters in fiction are stereotypically samurai or ninjas.

So what?

 

[Dark Raven]

That's why I said Doom's background is full of gypsy stereotypes. Every time they show scenes from his past, it looks like a gypsy fairy tale.

And the people in Doomtown are all dressed as if the city is stuck in the earlty 20th century. And lots of historical buildings and a castle. A stereotypical European town.

Wanda had a costume for while that looked gypsy. Or at least it looked like what the artist thought was gypsy.

Black Knight: dressed like an English warrior from the Middle Ages. Doctor Druid: dressed like a celtic druid.

Vanguard: a Russian guy with hammer and sickle? Ursa Major: the proverbial "Russian Bear"?

Baron Blood: a guy who's from Romania, a nobleman and a vampire. Very innovative.

Many Japanese characters in fiction are stereotypically samurai or ninjas.

So what?

Couldn't Captain America be a stereotype as well? People might think that all Americans go round dressed in stars and stripes.

Or Captain Britain - that all English people dress in the Union Jack. Only Geri Halliwell does that.

 

[Surfer]

While I am a fan of Mandarin's classic look (in the comics), I also know (in todays world) the taliban / al quaida bearded look will help the general public to better perceive him as the villian. The US and China currently have a somewhat symbiotic relationship making them allies of sorts, and the biggest complaint that I hear in the US with relation to China is generally related to the quality of the products. So, since the majority of tension in the world today seems to be with specific terrorist organazations from the Middle East it seems logical that they make the Mandarin (who states in the video some people call him a terrorist), to appear more similar to the look of those groups. Especially, since the Iron Man movies would probably be considered the ones most grounded in reality from all of the movies currently available within the Marvel made universe of characters.


Anyways, that is my thoughts on the subject for what its worth.


Surfer

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

Their backgrounds aren't really as blatant as Mandarin's was with the Fu Manchu beard and the robes and what not. It would be like Doom dressing with a scarf on his head and barefoot and Magneto wearing a yarmulke instead of the helmet.

The Chinese essentially explains away the name Mandarin, but as far as background goes, who cares? I own 6,000 something Marvel comics, many of them Iron Man and I could barely tell you much of anything about the Mandarin's origin outside of "he acquired stuff from aliens", and that's more or less the only important elements to it.

The ethnicity change really only serves to make his name perplexing. It's an overly PC reaction to a character who divorced himself from the overt stereotypes of his past in the comics.

 

[Visceral]

osama bin mandarin

 

[bell110]

Yeah, I'm not digging his look either.

 

[Boom]

The beard makes him look a bit unkempt. Something more akin to DiCaprio's beard in Django Unchained would've been preferable in my book.