Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings producer Kevin Feige has revealed why the real version of The Mandarin wasn’t in Iron Man 3.
Iron Man 3 is typically brought up in certain circles as one of the worst entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The main reason that is cited for this is the big twist regarding The Mandarin. In the film, it is revealed that the character that we thought was The Mandarin was, in fact, an actor who was hired to put on a show as part of a long con involving the film’s true antagonist, Aldrich Killian.
In Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, a version of The Mandarin is set to appear and will be portrayed by Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s Wenwu who is Shag-Chi’s father. In a recent interview with Rotten Tomatoes, producer Kevin Feige revealed why the character did not appear in Iron Man 3, and how Shang-Chi connects back to the first film:
“Well that’s what’s fun about the MCU at this stage is that we can do something like Shang-Chi, introducing a brand new hero into the MCU and into the world at large, but that subtitle “And the Legend of the Ten Rings” actually connects it back to the very beginning of the MCU; the Ten Rings being the organization that kidnapped Tony Stark at the very beginning of Iron Man one. That organization was inspired by a character called The Mandarin in the comics and going back to Iron Man 1 we’ve been talking about ‘When do we bring this character to the screen?’ and 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, it’s 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. Again, talking about actors making these characters come to life, Tony Leung playing Shang-Chi’s father and the leader of the Ten Rings is another pinch yourself, dream come true moment, because he’s one of the best actors of our time. Very excited to have him introduced to, I hope, a whole new fan base who might not be aware of his spectacular work that he’s done.”
You can see the full interview with Kevin Feige below:
What did you think of The Mandarin twist in Iron Man 3? Would you have liked to have seen Tony Stark go up against the real leader of The Ten Rings? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton from a script written by David Callaham, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Ronny Chieng and Dallas Liu. Here’s the official synopsis for the Marvel Studios project:
“Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi in Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.”
The film is scheduled to hit theaters on September 3, 2021. Stay tuned for all the latest information surrounding Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content!
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