Iron Man 2 How do you make The Mandarin work for a film?

[Tony Stark]

Yeah, But I still think Raza would make a good reality based mandarin...

I agree, we alreay know the character, we already know his history with stark.

What I would do, is take the "10 rings" thing being some sort of fabled myth that the group bases their name on. Now that Raza knows Stark's secret, he used technology to create 10 rings, based on the fabled ones.

 

[jamesjuhn]

hmmm based on my limited knowledge about the character from Wikipedia(I've just been converted to a fan by the way so pardon my ignorance),

If they are looking to connect the whole franchise with Avengers (which has fantastical characters like Thor as part of the team) saying they are all in the same universe doesn't it sort of defie purpose to ground Mandarin in realism?

I mean, I love TDK (its my favourite film this year, followed by Iron Man), and think what Chris Nolan did to base his franchise in realism was really done well and worked so far, but DC is taking completely opposite approach from Marvel(they are not connecting the solo superhero films at all seeing Nolan's franchise and the Justice League movie project is totally unrelated).
I think a lot of people (well probably not everyone) are still in TDK craze like TheVileOne said and want to see Mandarin reality based, but honestly I don't think that will go too well here(this is my personal opinion).

To me, I see Iron Man as a realism-based hero(his suit technology etc) living in a fantastical world(hence Nick Fury's "bigger universe" comment in after credits), and if they are indeed going through with Avengers, then I'd prefer they'd keep the tone consistent with the Avengers film(Don't know about you guys, but I was disappointed with FF2's Galactus compared to his form in the comics)

 

[marcvader]

...also the fact that Stark was in TIH and willing to help Ross with his "problem", would tell you that there may be some degree of fantasy in it as well.

 

[Rich Santoro]

^ but the Hulk doesn't imply "fantasy". He is science based (complex bio-chemistry and bio-physics is at work)... A tie-in with IM would not be inconsistent with Stark's tech world...

And my take on the notion of "reality" in all of this... is to make even the fantastic elements of characters like Thor, seem plausible in the universe as we know it. It can be stated, "The universe is a big place, and we are only able to observe and measure a fraction of it... There are many phenomenon that we don't fully understand - black holes, dark energy, subatomic particles down to string-theory and multiple dimensions, worm-holes, details of the big bang itself... And these are just the things we know about."

This idea lends itself to rooting even other-worldly beings, like Thor, and phenomenon like the ten rings as parts of out universe. They can be left as "beyond our current understanding." but can be drawn into "reality" in this way...

I even favor a comment from Fury to Banner (when trying to recruit him to the Avengers... perhaps in one of the openning scenes of the Avengers film), "You of all people are aware of the kinds of discoveries and technological breakthroughs that lie just over the horizon... and you of all people are aware of what some are willing to do to cross the horizon... and what they would do when they get there." I believe commentary like this can blow things wide open for the radical stuff that could occur in future Marvel films... that we all know and love from the books... new power sources, advanced sci-fi-science, time travel, alien races and worlds, intergalactic beings / entities, supernatural beings and powers, undiscovered Earthly beings (like the Atlanteans), etc...

 

[MichaelChen]

Raza wouldn't work at all as the Mandarin, because he never displayed the massive level of skill that is the Mandarin's hallmark. He would have been flipping around and kicking the crap out of the mark I if he were the Mandarin. Even without the rings, Mandarin is too high a level villain for the escape scene to have happened.

 

[American_Hobo]

well im not around this board much so i dont know much clue so help me out..
Is Mandarin confirmed as the main villain in Iron Man2?

 

[tamron]

Raza wouldn't work at all as the Mandarin, because he never displayed the massive level of skill that is the Mandarin's hallmark. He would have been flipping around and kicking the crap out of the mark I if he were the Mandarin. Even without the rings, Mandarin is too high a level villain for the escape scene to have happened.

Exactly. Raza as Mandarin would basically mean his "Mandarin" is dependent on the rings, because we already saw he's a chump without them.

 

[DoctorJones]

well im not around this board much so i dont know much clue so help me out..
Is Mandarin confirmed as the main villain in Iron Man2?

Favreau: "Mandarin is still an important figure in the Iron Man universe. We have an interesting take on him that allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains. The whole 10 Rings thing in IM 1 was a good tease for it."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/live-chat-with.html

So not quite there yet.

 

[CaptainClown]

Here is some sketch I was doing in my spare time. I think I would have the rings utilize a specific type of energy, each of them different. His armor in a way channels the energy for their specific utility. The one draw back with the suit is he can only channel one ring at a time. (Which could lead to his demise when he utilizes all the gems at once) The suit also isn't a complete suit but more armor along the arm. I think the big goal of Mandarin is that he is not physically capable but powerful enough to stand his own. So he is going to be very vulnerable to physical attacks, but he is going to be powerful enough that its almost impossible to get in a physical attack.

I am really unsure about a helmet but if he is going to do aerial combat then he would need a mask for breathing. I would also have his armor radiate a greenish light against his face to give the look of the traditional Mandarin.

 

[MichaelChen]

Sorry, but that is a horrible take on the character that shows you completely don't get the character. A huge part of Mandarin's appeal is that he can jump on Iron Man and kung fu the hell out of him. Your take would turn him into a pure ranged nerd instead of the aggressive, macho, super-martial-artist he is in the comics.

Please read the most recent Mandarin/Iron Man story before coming up with ideas for how to translate him into film. Your idea deviates so far from what makes Mandarin cool that it would ruin him.

P.S., the "traditional" Mandarin is not green. That's something from the cartoon only.

 

[Rich Santoro]

I felt compelled to repeat one of my earlier posts...

His origin should be that he is trapped in a society that he hates (communist China). He is a statesman or scientist (something important in Chinese system) but he wants to return to the days of pre-communist China, in which his family was part of the noble class. He comes across the rings (just stones at the time) that were unearthed by archaelogists. He does some experiments to discover that these are "solidified energy" or some other more appealing psuedo-scientific term. He spends a great deal of time learning the stones' properties, how to trigger the release of energy, and even how to manipulate the effects (via meditation that allows him to merge his consciousness with the rings' energy fields). He fashions them into rings and is able to weild the power of the rings via fluid martial arts movements.

And along these lines... it would be good to see Mandarin dealing some martial arts blows to IM, but depict the scene such that we see the Mandarin encasing his hands in a shroud of energy... thereby doing damage to IM's armor with a Kinetic field, rather than calloused hands. If that armor can repell a tank shell, then no martial artist is going to do damage to it.

 

[WeaponXProject]

I'm cool with that.^^^^

 

[CaptainClown]

Sorry, but that is a horrible take on the character that shows you completely don't get the character. A huge part of Mandarin's appeal is that he can jump on Iron Man and kung fu the hell out of him. Your take would turn him into a pure ranged nerd instead of the aggressive, macho, super-martial-artist he is in the comics.

Please read the most recent Mandarin/Iron Man story before coming up with ideas for how to translate him into film. Your idea deviates so far from what makes Mandarin cool that it would ruin him.

P.S., the "traditional" Mandarin is not green. That's something from the cartoon only.

I didn't say you take out the martial arts aspect. Hell you could include it if you wanted. YOu could even fathom that he engineered his own suit. This appeals to me and maybe other people, especially if you are going to keep it grounded like what Favreau seems like he is going to be doing.

While Bruce Lee might be a martial arts bad ass I don't see him cracking open Iron Man like a lobster, he would need some enhancement buddddy.

 

[Iron_Stark]

I didn't say you take out the martial arts aspect. Hell you could include it if you wanted. YOu could even fathom that he engineered his own suit. This appeals to me and maybe other people, especially if you are going to keep it grounded like what Favreau seems like he is going to be doing.

While Bruce Lee might be a martial arts bad ass I don't see him cracking open Iron Man like a lobster, he would need some enhancement buddddy.

Seeing how Favs is referencing a lot of late 80s early 90s, I wouldn't be surprised if he did give Mandarin a suit similar to the one Michelinie and Layton gave him.

 

[COMPO]

he looks like shredder but blue :S

 

[MichaelChen]

I didn't say you take out the martial arts aspect. Hell you could include it if you wanted. YOu could even fathom that he engineered his own suit. This appeals to me and maybe other people, especially if you are going to keep it grounded like what Favreau seems like he is going to be doing.

While Bruce Lee might be a martial arts bad ass I don't see him cracking open Iron Man like a lobster, he would need some enhancement buddddy.

The Mandarin isn't Bruce Lee. The Mandarin is more like an evil version of Remo Williams, and him being that way is a huge part of his cool factor. Taking that away is like taking away Doom being a sorcerer, it sucks out a huge part of his cool factor.

 

[terry78]

he looks like shredder but blue :S

He'll get those wretched reptiles.

 

[Victarion]

He'll get those wretched reptiles.

Also, we should cast Uncle Phil in the role of the Mandarin if we're looking for Shredder similarities.

 

[Shemtov]

Some of starks tech. reached the leader of the ten rings "the manderin" b4 he could destroy it. the mandarin fashoned ten rings out of them, each with a different power.

 

[marcvader]

I really don't want to see Mandarin wearing any kind of suit. It would really cheapen the character for me. Any power or protection he needs should come from the rings and his rings alone.

 

[Rich Santoro]

i really don't want to see mandarin wearing any kind of suit. It would really cheapen the character for me. Any power or protection he needs should come from the rings and his rings alone.

qft

 

[terry78]

Has John Cho been cast as Mandarin?

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/12/iron-man-iis-fa.html

 

[Chewy]

^ That originated from HERE.

It's an idiotic joke from a writer who doesn't know the difference between a ridiculous rumor about Batman 3 from a British magazine and a legitimate scoop about Iron Man 2 from LatinoReview.

 

[terry78]

^I thought so at first, but I googled the thing and there's about 20 other high profile sites all saying the rumor has some merit. So I don't know.

 

[Chewy]

I know, and I'm honestly dumbfounded that anyone is running this story as legit

EW scoop-hounds nowhere near the development of Iron Man 2 have learned that John Cho has been cast as the Mandarin in Jon Favreau's follow-up to the gold-plated blockbuster. Cho, having appeared as both Harold and Sulu, will make the Asian geek trifecta with this role as the power-ring-wearing, power-mad villain. Other horribly placed sources tell us that Tommy Chong is being eyed to play the Mandarin's father, who claims to be the real genius responsible for the weaponeering success of Howard Stark, Tony's beloved dad.

Does that sound real enough to start a casting rumor? Feels like it to me. After all, was there any more than that to go on when people started talking about Tim Robbins in Iron Man 2, Eddie Murphy as the Riddler in Batman 3, or Rachel Weisz as Catwoman in the same? (Let the record show that I am 100 percent in favor of a Rachel Weisz Catwoman.)

Is it a popularity thing, is that why people feel the need to start these rumors? What purpose do they serve, other to make people think you know more than anyone else? Why do these baseless rumors get any traction at all? Surely, we've got more important things to do with our time.

That said, I really would like to see Rachel Weisz as Catwoman. Which of these rumors do you wish were true? And, hey, wanna start one while you're at it?