Iron Man 3�screened in Times Square last night, and though it's practically impossible to talk about the Mandarin without spoilers, I've got to say that he is the most daring creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. As Ben Kingsley, who portrays the villain, said again and again and again in the trailers, "You will never see me coming," and that line resonates even more now that I've seen the movie.
Director Shane Black, who also co-wrote the movie with�Drew Pearce, created a character that took me completely (and happily) by surprise. And, after all that blogosphere grousing ? myself included ? about casting the half-British, half-Indian Kingsley in the role of a character that, based on the Marvel comics universe, �is a China-born descendant of Ghengis Khan, the Oscar-winning actor turns out be a genius bit of casting. There's only one other actor I could imagine doing justice to the part, but I'm going to hold off on sharing his name for now for fear that his body of work would be too much of a clue. �Maybe I'll drop it in the comments section after the picture opens.
The Mandarin: A True 21st Century Villain
I have a feeling Black and Pearce's construct for the Mandarin is going to piss off a lot of comic-book purists (while, at the same time, making die-hard fans of The X Files smile), �but I applaud them and Marvel Studios for taking the chance. The Mandarin turns out to be a villain for the media-saturated, perception-is-reality 21st Century, and that's a lot more memorable (and unsettling) than some dude with magic rings. �I wish I could write more about this, but that's about as far as I can go without spoiling a key chunk…
Gwen Stefani Halle Berry Hayden Panettiere Haylie Duff Heidi Klum Heidi Montag Hilarie Burton Hilary Duff
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