So I saw Iron Man 3 today. Overall, it was pretty excellent. Better than Iron Man 2, first is still the best but just by a little. And it had a really strong script thanks to writer/director Shane Black. But if you've heard the buzz from overseas, you know there's a huge twist in the second act that radically changes the mythos. A lot of comic fans are fuming over it, but I'm okay with it.
Last chance to avoid spoilers,
Okay, you've all been warned. So before Iron Man 3 was released and throughout the first act, a big deal is made about Sir Ben Kingsley's character, The Mandarin. The Mandarin, as presented, is the demagogic leader of an al-qaeda like terrorist organization who perform suicide bombings and plan to kill the President. He also looks like this...
Vaguely Middle-Eastern, vaguely Oriental and in the movie he's most seen through hijacked broadcasts and viral videos. So he's the conglomeration of all America's post-9/11 fears; Islamic extremism, East Asia's rising political power and anonymous hackers. And that's where the big deal came in. Sir Ben Kingsley, Oscar winning actor, portraying one of Marvel's most racially controversial characters? Could he be updated for the modern day? Would his trademark magic rings come with him? How would such an old-fashioned character play? There was even speculation about a mysterious Captain America shield tattoo on his neck. And that's where the twist comes in.
See, that's not the Mandarin.
Technically, there is no Mandarin. Ben Kingsley actually plays a washed-up British actor hired to play a terrorist mastermind called The Mandarin. His whole Gaddafi thing going on up there, all a show. The whole thing was a ruse by the film's real villain, Guy Pierce's Aldrich Killian, to put the Vice President he controlled into power and draw out Tony Stark for revenge.
Now like I said, this is a huge change to the lore from the comics. A lot of fans are going to be pissed and some already are. Hell, to be honest I'm a little disappointed myself that we didn't get a classic Iron Man vs. Mandarin confrontation. But I can't get mad about it for a few reasons.
First, nobody saw this coming. Huge twists are so hard to keep secret in the internet age so kudos to the people at Marvel. Hiring a well-respected actor like Sir Ben Kingsley to play one of their classic villains drew everybody's attention. They hyped him in the marketing for this like crazy. He was at the fore-front of all the trailers, built up to be the big bad who'd finally destroy Tony Stark. Meanwhile, we all forget about Guy Pierce. Good actor, sure, but he was playing a minor character from the comics who didn't even have any powers. He'll be in a subplot, not really important we told ourselves. Pierce himself even downplayed his involvement in interviews. So if nothing else you have to respect the huge game of misdirect Marvel played.
Secondly, it's thematically appropriate. Jump to 2:00 in the video below.
Episode 281 by BillMaher1956
That's the reality of the War on Terror. Kingsley's Mandarin is the fantasy, he's the scary version of bin Laden Bill Maher was talking about. He's what we think the evil mastermind is, the theatrical villain who shouts proclamations. Just like the original Mandarin embodied 60s fears of Oriental magic and Chinese communism, this one embodies our current fears. But that's a smokescreen for the real villain. Killian, the suave amoral businessman. He lies and manipulates, uses other people, kills indiscriminately and perverts technology to destroy and gain power. He's the Mandarin in all but name and Fu Manchu outfit. But he knows what we expect, especially after Loki invaded New York with aliens, so he created Kingsley's fake Mandarin to hide himself. And that's even more evil in a way.
And that's what I've got to say about this. Disappointed, but not unhappy.
Agree or disagree? Sound off in the comments.
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