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

[Chewy]

I honestly think the worst part about that article is that the author lumped the Tim Robbins story, which is a scoop from the same guy who scooped Brandon Routh, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, in with the Eddie Murphy story.

The whole thing reeks of ****** journalism. First that, and then some sites picking up this "rumor" and claiming it as fact. Ugh.

 

[Project862006]

Andy Lau should be mandarin

 

[JAK®]

I think that the fantasy aspect of The Mandarin's powers should be handled like an Indiana Jones movie. Magic should be hinted at for most of the movie, with the main characters being skeptical, and when magic IS shown, it shouldn't be overly explained or developed.

 

[tamron]

Andy Lau should be mandarin

Agreed.

Great actor, and it would be a fantastic business move, almost guaranteeing an int. BO smash.

 

[kedrell]

I think that the fantasy aspect of The Mandarin's powers should be handled like an Indiana Jones movie. Magic should be hinted at for most of the movie, with the main characters being skeptical, and when magic IS shown, it shouldn't be overly explained or developed.

But I thought the Mandarin never was magical, even in the comics. It was just alien technology he was using. Or maybe I'm off my rocker.

 

[kedrell]

Agreed.

Great actor, and it would be a fantastic business move, almost guaranteeing an int. BO smash.

I'm fine as long as he's a good actor. His look is definitely in the ball park. For the record, I'm somewhat against having an old Mandarin, like the old guy from Balls of Fury that some have suggested. I also wouldn't like some kid to play him as well(no to the guy from Harold & Kumar). He should be within 5-10 years of Tony's age, give or take.

 

[tamron]

What if they were to merge Mandarin and Kenjiro Fujikawa into one character? Make Kenjiro, CEO of Fujikawa Industries and Tony's business rival his public face and the Mandarin secretly?

 

[Ironfan72]

They did that in the comics this last year when the Mandarin made his return, he looked abit different so many people including Shield, didn't think the head of a Corp. was Mandarin only Stark suspected that Mandarin was back and trying to use the Extremis Virus to weed out the weakest people and leaving the strongest to rule the world.

 

[Chris B]

I still think they should just explain the rings as being miniaturized weapons he built himself. I was never a fan of the whole "he found them in a crash landed alien spaceship" angle of his origin. While modeling him heavily after his revamped comic persona.

 

[Rich Santoro]

^ I am fine with the rings being of alien origin, but it would be best to leave it vague... like, they were stones discovered by Chinese geologists years ago, while doing research following an earthquake. They have been in the Chinese government archives for years, and the Mandarin came across them (while working for the government).

The only information is that they are exterrestrial in nature and are composed of condensed energy, or quantized plasma, or super-sysmmetric dark matter, or encapsulated anti-matter... or some other such quasi-scientific expression. Then we find that the Mandarin has been experimenting with them, to understand their properties and how to trigger their effects. He fashions rings and inserts the stones. He has learned to merge the rings' energy fields with his own consciousness, allowing him to manipulate the powers therein. He may now unleash various effects from the rings using fluid martial types movements in which he has control over his chi (own internal energy field).

 

[terry78]

If Spider-Man and Indy can incorporate aliens in their "realistic" movies, IM should be able to. Just keep it vague. You can have supernatural stuff in your films without outright saying it.

 

[Rich Santoro]

Plus, the Mandarin, as I have described, is a good stepping stone to introduce magic to the Marvel movie-verse... where someone like Dr. Strange can do much of what the Mandarin does... "merge the rings' energy fields with his own consciousness, allowing him to manipulate the powers therein. He may now unleash various effects from the rings using fluid martial types movements in which he has control over his chi (own internal energy field)."

Except that he has merged his conciousness with natural energy fields that flow all around us (not the rings). Strange can unleash various effects from the natural energy fields using fluid martial types movements in which he has control over his chi (own internal energy field).

 

[kedrell]

If Spider-Man and Indy can incorporate aliens in their "realistic" movies, IM should be able to. Just keep it vague. You can have supernatural stuff in your films without outright saying it.

Not the best examples there.

 

[MichaelChen]

Plus, the Mandarin, as I have described, is a good stepping stone to introduce magic to the Marvel movie-verse... where someone like Dr. Strange can do much of what the Mandarin does... "merge the rings' energy fields with his own consciousness, allowing him to manipulate the powers therein. He may now unleash various effects from the rings using fluid martial types movements in which he has control over his chi (own internal energy field)."

Except that he has merged his conciousness with natural energy fields that flow all around us (not the rings). Strange can unleash various effects from the natural energy fields using fluid martial types movements in which he has control over his chi (own internal energy field).

I don't think Mandarin should be particularly fluid. He works best in the comics when he comes across as more "brutal" than "slick". He's a barbarian type whose found ten powerful ways of throwing dirt in your eyes(metaphorically speaking) before jumping on you, breaking your nose with a headbutt, and punching his fist down your throat to rip out your heart. Don't try to turn the rings into psuedo-magic. Use them as dirty tricks he uses to set up martial arts cheapshots.

 

[terry78]

^After this **** with N. Korea going down, I can see people actually viewing someone with his mindset and way of doing things more realisticially now.

 

[Rich Santoro]

^ OK... perhaps not "fluid" marial arts movements... but martial movements... They can be sharp and abrupt, and his fighting style nasty... but it should be about using chi to focus the energy of the rings.

 

[PumpkinBombxXx]

Make the Rings Alien in nature and **** include Fin Fang Foom (Alien Dragon) and you have a vary Scifi/Fantasy based film. Both seem mystical but are vary strong Scifi elements. If you make Fin Fang Foom much more Scifi looking then basic dragon then it makes it that much more believable to fit in Starks world. And yes i know mysticism is part of the marvel u but you just cant buy into it as much in a movie about tech rather then magic

 

[FaT_tONle]

I'm fine as long as he's a good actor. His look is definitely in the ball park. For the record, I'm somewhat against having an old Mandarin, like the old guy from Balls of Fury that some have suggested. I also wouldn't like some kid to play him as well(no to the guy from Harold & Kumar). He should be within 5-10 years of Tony's age, give or take.

I think he is even slightly older than RDJ... which is perfect.

 

[bossman550]

how bout jackie chan jk

 

[kedrell]

Someone suggested Sonny Chiba(Kill Bill). Now that might work even though he's probably a bit older than I imagined the Mandarin being. Plus he's probably kept himself in great shape, what with all the martial arts stuff.

 

[tryp09]

I say we blur the lines between man and immortal. Ala Lord of the Rings. The rings give him such power but also takes his humanity the more he embraces them. Eventually, he does not even use his well-trained physical attributes to fight. Perhaps start him off with three rings and provide some ancient Chinese history on how he got them and they prolong his life span. He's been looking for the others since and perhaps during the span of the movie he recovers a few more but never gets the full ten. He is defeated by Iron-man but the rings allow him to escape with a device (or help from Loki) that will allow him to locate the rest of the rings. THis could possibly set up a sequel or the Avengers movie.

 

[Rich Santoro]

^ Not bad... The "on-going search" concept is very interesting.

 

[bossman550]

^it really isnt is it

 

[tryp09]

Mandarin has the same potential in becoming a breakthrough character like Iron-Man if approached right. Glad you guys agree with me!

I think the coolest part could be seeing his powers grow as there are literally 10 stages to his power accumulation. We could go from augmenting his physical prowess (speed and power), to being able to manipulate the elements (fire, ice, wind), to outrageous powers like time manipulation and telepathic abilities. That would be siiickkk! What would be awesome about that is that Tony has to upgrade just as much to keep up.

 

[Rich Santoro]

Mandarin has the same potential in becoming a breakthrough character like Iron-Man if approached right. Glad you guys agree with me!

I think the coolest part could be seeing his powers grow as there are literally 10 stages to his power accumulation. We could go from augmenting his physical prowess (speed and power), to being able to manipulate the elements (fire, ice, wind), to outrageous powers like time manipulation and telepathic abilities. That would be siiickkk! What would be awesome about that is that Tony has to upgrade just as much to keep up.

Dude... that last statement is a rock solid concept.