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Keanu IS mixed, which makes him closer to Mandarin's actual ethnicity than most of the pure Asian names that keep getting tossed into the hat.
I wouldn't object to Keanu also, as he has had previous training in Kung Fu not to mention sword training in Ronin 47 or whatever that movie was called. I had no idea Mandarin was of a mixed race though. Mark Dacascos ain't a bad choice either but I'm sure Marvel will go with a bigger name like Keanu.
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Yeah, he's mixed: half white(British) and half Mongolian.
The Mandarin is not racially Chinese. He's half british, half ethnic mongol.
Andy Lau is pure asian. He'd be a horrible choice to play a half white character.
it's the simplest of minor retcons to simply have him be born in Mongolia or Britain, especially since he's all about Genghis Khan and not China to begin. It's barely even a retcon, considering how little he cares about China itself
"it's the simplest of minor retcons to simply have him be born in Mongolia or Britain, especially since he's all about Genghis Khan and not China to begin. It's barely even a retcon, considering how little he cares about China itself."
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5...ocF2YGol5tYHR8z6zjbFhEKIXeQQ=w1366-h768-rw-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/O...s8sYEY-T4FQgFBFKLE80JizJDk3g=w1366-h768-rw-no
Yeah, he never looks mixed, is never drawn with green or blue eyes or racially mixed facial structure. Heck, I must just be imagining that even the Dragonseed Saga picture you posted has him with green eyes[/sarcasm]
You do love to quote him, and never look at what he actually does: enslave, exploit, repeatedly attempt global genocides that would impact the Chinese as much as anyone else. In the context of his actual actions, China is sometimes the slave-plantation this decedent of Genghis Khan and British aristocracy wants back, and other times just one more victim of his global schemes.
So the words that the character says himself don't illustrate his true nature,.
"To know that you are superior in mind, in spirit. EVERYTHING! To know that power is your BIRTHRIGHT! To know that untold thousands exist on this world for no reason but to SERVE you! To channel their power through YOUR empire, be it of land or of business, channeling upward to fuel YOU, to fuel your GLORY!" - The Mandarin
You love quoting speeches, here's one for you where the Mandarin lays out his motives, and it's the ugliest blend of aristocratic entitlement, Ayn Rand flavored social darwinism, and sheer narcissistic greed imaginable. It's all ME ME ME!! The Mandarin wants everyone to be slaves who only exist to fuel him. Metaphorically speaking, he wants to eat everything. He's a vain, greedy, exploitative, enslaving aristocrat. Sometimes he admits that outright, sometimes he doesn't, but even when he doesn't his actions show it clearly.
I wonder if the "real" Mandarin is simply one of those characters that time has not been kind too. He seems like he is dated in the worst way possible, not kitchy dated, more like a reminder of an outdated world outlook.
Despite his unfortunate original presentation, I could overlook his stereotypical origins, if I thought he was a consistently compelling character, but I don't think he is, I think he is a archetype with wildly inconsistent characterization.
I don't think the writers have done a good job giving him a defined and rich personality and a good reason why he is Tony's arch enemy, he seems like an outdated stock villain who be anyone's arch enemy and it wouldn't matter.