Iron Man 3 The Further Adventures of Trevor or How I Learned to Stop Griping & Love The Mandarin

[Poni_Boy]

Well, now we know that The Mandarin exists in the MCU. He's yet to be revealed in his current state but thanks to the latest Marvel One-Shot 'All Hail the King' we know he's an ancient Chinese warlord who founded the Ten Rings religion and is not too happy about Trevor's impersonation.

The One-Shot concludes with Jackson Norriss (possible Nighthawk?) breaking Trevor out of Seagate prison to deliver him to the name who "wants his name back," with lots of destruction happening in the process (possible segwey to Luke Cage?)

So what now? Taking all the events of the Iron Man extended trilogy into accounts, plus what we know about the future of the MCU, what do you want to see happen? Where can the story go? What characters would easily augment this new tangent?

Sound off

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I see a lot of suggestions about how he should be mystical in nature, but with multiple alien races established in the MCU there isn't any reason why they couldn't go in that direction. Alien tech could provide extreme longevity just as easily as supernatural forces, and perhaps help to avoid the dreary "Fu Manchu" comparisons that some people can't seem to let go.

Also I nominate Chow Yun Fat, because he rocks.

 

[Poni_Boy]

Hah Chow is awesome. But I wouldn't mind a more unknown actor from Chinese cinema. Like how The Wolverine used well known Japanese actors. How about Andy Lau? He's been their #1 box office star for years. Does a lot of action movies

Then again it all depends on if they want an older Mandarin, an "ageless" Mandarin or just one for flashbacks.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

That'd be alright, I can only name a few Chinese actors tho so I defaulted to CYF lol

 

[Nathan]

I think it's an interesting change of pace. Like I've seen someone else mention before, usually these comic adaptations fuse multiple characters. Like fusing Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo, to give us Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2. Now with the Mandarin, we get multiple characters and interpretations.

We had the Terrorist, the manipulative and delusional billionaire, and now we get the Mandarin that's possibly mystical in nature, and inspired the former two.

But nothing is set in stone yet. In the one-shot it's said he's an ancient war lord, but we don't know if the Mandarin is simply a mantle that gets passed from generation to generation, or if he actually survived over the centuries. If the mantle simply gets passed on, it could be done similar to Black Tarantula. Everyone assumes Black Tarantula is an immortal, who discovered the secret to eternal life. When in reality, the mantle simply gets passed from father to son.

If he is the one and true Mandarin, the war lord of ancient times, there are still two ways you can tackle the scenario. Either you have him find a way to prolong his life through alien science, or you go with a mystical approach. Possibly making him more than just an Iron Man villain in the process, and make him one of the big MCU villains, that eventually deals with the likes of Doctor Strange and Thor. You'd probably also have an easier time of introducing crazier elements in the Iron Man Movies, like the Dragon Fin Fang Foom.

I said it once before, and I'll say it again. I want that Dragon.

 

[Poni_Boy]

Hah yeah same here. I'm not a purveyor of Chinese cinema. But either way I'm not so much worried about the casting. Aside from Cheadle I don't dislike any major character castings.

In terms of his "power" do you think he'll wear the ten power rings like Trevor did (did you catch that he's wearing one in the Caged Heat TV promo?) or is the Ten Rings iconography it?

 

[Poni_Boy]

I said it once before, and I'll say it again. I want that Dragon.

Oh me to, me to. This is why Easter Eggs are so important. Marvel uses them as a litmus to spark discussion and see what there's a demand for. That one tiny banner was enough to get people buzzing.

Spoiler

Tony seemed ok with all the alien science stuff. It gave him some PTSD but he took most of it in stride because it's still science based, which he understands. But he has yet to face a mystical threat. Something out of the realm of understanding. Put him against Fin Fang Foom and at first he might think "oh, ok, like the Chitauri things" but then comes to realize it's something else.

 

[Nathan]

Well, I do hope he wears rings. Otherwise the organization's name makes little sense. As to if they should be power rings, I'd definitely prefer it. But I would completely understand if they maybe reduce the amount of abilities they give him.

Maybe instead of being rings that give him 10 distinctive powers, they can instead be used to increase his natural abilities. Or maybe make him more like a Star Wars force user. So he wouldn't have abilities like shooting ice and fire, but he'd still have things like telekinesis, lightning, mind manipulation, increased agility, etc. And the more rings he wears, the more his abilities get amplified. So with 10 rings he'd just be at his maximum power level.

I'd want him to be scary. Someone that could take you out with a motion of his hands. Until Tony would somehow find a way to either nullify or dampen the effects of the rings and evens the playing field.

 

[Poni_Boy]

Hmm, what if he wore gauntlet styled gloves that have rings embossed in them like the gems in the IG?

Just trying to think in continuity of what people are somewhat (or will be) familiar with.

My biggest worry is giving people the aesthetic of Trevor 2.0 ...if they look too similar, regardless of the explanation, it'll be like a do over.

Scary? Yes. The Force like powers? Hell yes. And none of the X-Men stuff where everyone's power regardless of what it is looks like a powerful fart

 

[jaqua99]

Trevor will be Mandarin.... Killian, in SOME way or another will be Fin Fang Foom.

Tat's my prediction!

 

[Poni_Boy]

Trevor will be Mandarin.... Killian, in SOME way or another will be Fin Fang Foom.

Tat's my prediction!

Well, Pearce just said that Trevor is not the Mandarin. The Mandarin is another character. There's no "double bluff"

 

[IncognitoWalrus]

I hope the Mandarin shows up as the villain of Age of Ultron. If he hijacks Ultron after Tony creates it, that would really set up a great conflict between them.

 

[Poni_Boy]

They probably wouldn't have put this info in the One-Shot if that were the case

 

[Poni_Boy]

Anyway, just now realized we got The Mandarin already. In The Shadow

 

[TheVileOne]

I'm disappointed. It's a copout after what they did with Iron Man 3.

It's a lame dangling of the carrot as well considering this was the last Iron Man 3 movie for a while. The next two films with Iron Man are Avengers 2 and 3, the only ones Downey is signed for. So if they ever were to do Iron Man 4, it won't happen for years to come.

And there's no promise they will ever revisit this version of Mandarin or the 10 Rings as well. So what's the point?

OK, so the Mandarin is real...and? Why wasn't he just in Iron Man 3 then? When will we see the REAL Mandarin and the 10 Rings next? I just don't understand any of this.

I'd be anxious to see what Shane Black's perspective on all this was.

 

[Poni_Boy]

This isn't the thread for griping (hence the title). That's what the other one is for. this is to discuss the ideas, themes and possiblity of where the one-shot leads into the rest of the MCU. You're just repeating the same stuff from the other thread.

 

[TheVileOne]

You're not a moderator Poni_Boy. Don't tell me what I can and can't do. Frankly, this thread should probably merged into the several other threads we have here. Since all of this is really just discussion about Hail to the King.

As far as possibilities. They are nil at this point.

Downey's only signed for Avengers 2 in 2015. And Avengers 3, which we probably won't see in 2018. That's five years from now. Downey is 48 now and turns 49 in two months. So maybe there is a small chance he does one more Iron Man movie which we wouldn't see until 2019 at the EARLIEST, six years from now.

So after the last near decade or so of Marvel constantly getting cold feet with the Mandarin, what's going to change in six years? The Mandarin was written out of Iron Man late in the game. All involvement of the 10 Rings and the Mandarin in Iron Man 2 was cut as well.

Iron Man 3 was a fake, imitation version.

So will Marvel and Disney finally be OK with doing the "real" Mandarin in six years? Will China and Asia be less of a factor in their international distribution model at that point? If that's not the problem, then that begs the question, why didn't they actually do a story with the real Mandarin and 10 Rings?

Avengers 2 is Ultron. Avengers 3 is Thanos unless they decide to make drastic changes. So there is no chance of seeing the Mandarin as an actual villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the foreseeable future.

 

[Repulsor Blast]

Iron Man 3 is still the exact same movie. They didn't do the "true" mandarin because it wasn't relevant to the story they wanted to tell.

My God, people with their delusions that these films are made primarily for them. As if the real mandarin takes precedence over everything. Newsflash, IM3 had a strong script, and the character arc for Tony was light years ahead of Thor TDW.

Oh, but all that isn't as important as getting your comic book mandarin? You need to be validated above and beyond the vast majority of audience members who don't know or care about a villain that is Iron Man's greatest nemesis by default?

It you liked Iron Man 3, but now don't because of the one shot, you are a ridiculous fanboy as far as I'm concerned. The film is still exactly the same. Hate the one shot if anything.

This is all even more bewildering if you remember that they didn't want to do the traditional mandarin for a myriad of valid reasons. Oh, but I bet your desire to be validated trumps all these.

*mocking tone* "I want magic space rings!!" - Shane Black

I'm with him. That's what you sound like to me. Get over yourselves. They were nice enough to leave it open for the true mandarin to return. They didn't have to do that.

But people are never happy.

 

[Nathan]

So, about these Mandarin Theories. Anyone want to have a specific take on him? Science, magic, both? Immortal or a mantle passed on from generation to generation? Goals? Global domination or simply ruling from the shadows?

 

[smallville fan]

Maybe they could do the Masters of Evil? I mean they have Graviton as seen in Agents of SHIELD and perhaps Justin Hammer and of course Loki and whoever is going to show up in Cap 2?

Maybe they could bring in the real Mandarin there?

 

[Lord]

Well, Pearce just said that Trevor is not the Mandarin. The Mandarin is another character. There's no "double bluff"

Khan wasn't in Star Trek Into Darkness, and Talia was not in The Dark Knight Rises, those are facts stated stated by the filmmakers of those movies before they came out.

I'm not defending the theory that Trevor is the Mandarin, just stating the obvious fact that studios lie all the time.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

I'm disappointed. It's a copout after what they did with Iron Man 3.

It's a lame dangling of the carrot as well considering this was the last Iron Man 3 movie for a while. The next two films with Iron Man are Avengers 2 and 3, the only ones Downey is signed for. So if they ever were to do Iron Man 4, it won't happen for years to come.

And there's no promise they will ever revisit this version of Mandarin or the 10 Rings as well. So what's the point?

OK, so the Mandarin is real...and? Why wasn't he just in Iron Man 3 then? When will we see the REAL Mandarin and the 10 Rings next? I just don't understand any of this.

I'd be anxious to see what Shane Black's perspective on all this was.

^This. I lost a little respect for Pearce because of this unnecessary back paddeling, when instead, they could have easily expanded their version of the Mandarin further.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

They were nice enough to leave it open for the true mandarin to return. They didn't have to do that.

Exactly. So why did they?

 

[Whiskey Tango]

before they came out.

Which doesn't apply here.

I knew people couldn't resist the old "they're lying" routine. Sigh.

 

[Lord]

Hmm, then if they were asked you really think that MS would admit that what they did was due to fan complaints?