Iron Man, starring the charismatic Robert Downey Jr., was a revolutionary movie that shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Released in 2008, when comic book adaptations were still in their infancy, it offered a fresh and realistic take on superheroes.
However, as revealed in the newly published book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, an intense behind-the-scenes debate shaped the film’s threequel narrative. One of the most controversial decisions was to exclude a character that could have drastically altered the MCU’s course – the Mandarin.
Iron Man 3’s Initial Vision and the Mandarin Dilemma
Marvel Studios had initially planned to take Iron Man 3 in a different direction by featuring one of the character’s most famous enemies from the comic books, the Mandarin. However, the original plans, as described in MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, were “where Mandarin was going to be Crimson Dynamo.”
“There was a point where Mandarin was going to be Crimson Dynamo, and he was going to pop out of the ground at Stark Enterprises as a surprise,”
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The screenwriting team of Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby were reportedly opposed to the idea of using the Mandarin character from the beginning. They were concerned that the character, based on broad racial stereotypes, would clash with director Jon Favreau’s vision of a more grounded and realistic film.
As mentioned in the MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, They not only expressed these concerns but also “begged” to keep the Mandarin out of the movie. In the world of comic books, the character of Mandarin has often been portrayed in a way that can be seen as racially insensitive.
“During script development, the film’s other screenwriting duo, Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby, were ‘begging,’ they said, to leave the Mandarin out. They felt that the villain-built on broad racial stereotypes-undercut, in a fairly spectacular manner, Favreau’s plausibility mandate.”
They were hesitant when the director approached the writers about introducing Mandarin as the film’s villain. However, Drew Pearce and Shane Black, tasked with rewriting the script, decided not to include Mandarin in the film.
Kevin Feige’s Foresight and the MCU’s Long Game
When Kevin Feige became the newly appointed president of Marvel Studios, he had a talent for thinking long-term. The writers expressed their concerns about the character of the Mandarin, and Feige suggested that they set him aside for a future project.
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, the director revealed that he wanted to create a storyline that would unfold over many years, not just a single movie. The story behind the scenes of the MCU has been evolutionary.
“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.”
The Mandarin was teased in Iron Man 3, but the Marvel Studios president clarified that it wasn’t the real Mandarin. This was a conscious decision, as Feige believed the character’s complexity could not fully be explored in an Iron Man movie.
