Iron Man 3: Mandarin Asian Look Was Never Considered Says Kevin Feige

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:4269:]]A hot topic amongst fans of Iron Man is that the main villain in Iron Man 3, the Mandarin played by Ben Kingsley, does not resemble his comic book counterpart.

We’ve already seen images from the Iron Man 3 trailer revealing the Mandarin to have a tattoo as well as a “cool” military t-shirt, suggesting not only a Mandarin with anarchistic tendencies, but a more “hip” one?

While that may seem like a silly suggestion, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige does tell Empire Magazine (via The Collider) that the Asian-look of the Mandarin from the comic books wasn’t even a consideration.

Early – and very late – drafts of Iron Man 1 featured The Mandarin as a villain. The Mandarin is his most famous foe in the comics mainly because he’s been around the longest. If you look, there’s not necessarily a definitive Mandarin storyline in the comics. So it was really about having an idea. In terms of the Fu Manchu stereotyping that was involved, we never had any interest in that. He’s relentless. Assuming that he’s the one responsible for what happens to Tony’s house, no other villain has been able to strike that fast and that hard at one of our heroes. He’s very much about believing that the world needs to learn, and he wants to bend the world to his vision.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:4270:]]Another character also getting a second look at from fans is the new Iron Patriot. It’s now safe to say that Kevin Feige has squashed all the rumors of the Iron Patriot being anybody else but James Rhodes, War Machine.

The notion in the movie is that a red, white and blue suit is a bold statement, and it’s meant to be. With Rhodey, he’s very much the foil to Tony’s eccentricities, and in this one you get to see this and be reminded of the trust and friendship between them in that great Shane Black buddy-cop fashion.

Speaking of rumors, how about any of the Avengers appearing in the movie?

Iron Man 3 doesn’t feature any of the other Avengers, or Nick Fury showing up, or any of those world-blending conceits that the Phase One films had. You have to keep in mind that Iron Man 3 had been in the works for almost a year, year and a half before The Avengers was released. We’re sticking to the vision for these films, and showing once again that these characters are just as interesting alone as they are together.”

While Kevin Feige does say no to Nick Fury or any of the other Avengers, perhaps he’s playing coy and we’ll get an appearance by Ant-Man.

Finally, there is mention of the recent injury that Robert Downey Jr. suffered on set, which was just a simple accident.

Robert is very gung-ho about doing his own stunts, but he’s also very safety conscious and aware of his limitations. He wasn’t even attempting to do anything above or beyond what would be considered safe – it was just a wire-assisted leap from one platform to another, and he came down in the wrong position on that ankle. It was a good old fashioned accident. The silver lining was that Shane started to work on the cut and continued to work on the script, and hone and refine the movie itself.

Iron Man 3 blasts off May 3rd, 2013 directed by Shane Black and starring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle.

Head on over to the Cosmic Book News The Avengers Movie Hub for more news, images and trailers.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:3673:]]Synopsis:

Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce and Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of Tales of Suspense (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with The Invincible Iron Man (#1) in May of 1968.

Iron Man 3 is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing and Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Stephen Broussard, Victoria Alonso, Alan Fine, Charles Newirth, Stan Lee and Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film releases May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.