Kevin Feige Defends Iron Man 3's Fake Mandarin Twist

[banglabhai420]

Kevin Feige defends the controversial plot twist in Iron Man 3 regarding the Mandarin. There was massive excitement when it was announced that one of Tony Stark's most iconic villains in the comics would factor into the Shane Black film. But around halfway through the film, it was revealed that Iron Man 3's version of the Mandarin was an imposter used to deviate people's attention from the real bad guy — Aldrich Killian.

In terms of execution, the Iron Man 3 plot twist was done effectively. Nobody saw the Ben Kingsley reveal as the bumbling actor named Trevor Slattery who was merely playing the role of the organized crime boss to terrorize Tony. But, many didn't like the idea — especially those who were looking forward to seeing the comic book rivalry come to life on the big screen. So, eventually, Marvel Studios pivoted, releasing the One-Shot All Hail The King which confirmed that despite Killian's scheme, the real Mandarin exists, and he's not thrilled that his name was used without his blessing.

As Tony Leung's debut as Wenwu/Mandarin nears via Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel Studios president Feige defends his fake introduction in Iron Man 3 in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, saying that Marvel is still a fan of the shocking surprise. He also explains the reasoning behind waiting to bring in the real Mandarin, citing the need to do him justice:

And going back to Iron Man one: We’ve been talking about that when we do bring this character to the screen, [we] only wanted to do it when we felt we could do it supreme justice and really showcase the complexity of this character, which frankly we couldn’t do in an Iron Man movie because an Iron Man movie is about Iron Man; an Iron Man movie is about Tony Stark. So Shane Black, in his film and his script that he co-wrote, came up with this fun twist that we love to this day, and it turned out to be Trevor Slattery. Just because that version wasn’t real didn’t mean there’s not a leader of the Ten Rings organization, and that is who we meet for the first time in Shang-Chi.

As someone who has spearheaded the most successful franchise in the world, it's difficult to argue with Feige's sentiment about the Mandarin. But, it's also worth noting that Marvel Studios have been able to bring complex villains to its projects and do them justice. A prime example of that is Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, together with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, were able to find a way to efficiently establish Josh Brolin's character as the biggest threat ever to face the Avengers despite limited screen time. Though there are still arguments that it would've been better if he had his own origin story before the ensemble film, his full debut in the 2018 culminating movie still worked well.

Given Feige's comments, it will be interesting to see how much of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings focuses on Wenwu. In the film, he's updated to be the titular character's father which already makes their dynamic unique. In an effort to connect this version of the Mandarin to Iron Man 3's, it would be neat if Slattery appeared, with Marvel Studios revealing what happened to him after All Hail The King. As exciting as it is that the real Mandarin is finally debuting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the only downside is that there's no more chance to see him square off with Tony as he did in the comics.

[Silent Watcher]

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