During the production of Iron Man 3, the biggest hurdle was the villain. Marvel fans were hoping it would be Mandarin, whom Jon Favreau had mistakenly touted as the villain in the first Iron Man film. Before Favreau decided to step down as the director of the franchise, he told the media that he expected Iron Man 3 to have Mandarin, who had been the supervillain in the Iron Man comic books.
Favreau suggested that the Mandarin should appear in the films; however, he also admitted that the depiction of the character in the comic books might not be a good choice for the big screen.
Mandarin’s Character Was Based on Racist Asian Stereotypes
According to the book MCU: The Reigns of Marvel Studios, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black suggested that the character of Mandarin in the film was highly inspired by racist Asian stereotypes. He was slightly based on Fu Manchu, a pulp novel character that was introduced in 1912 and became one of the most notorious villains in those books.
Chris Fenton of DMG Entertainment, who felt the film should be apt for a release in the Chinese market, warned Marvel executive Tim Connors about the character.
Chris Fenton said (via MCU: The Reigns of Marvel Studios):
“The Mandarin scares the shit out of us. The Mandarin looks and acts like the stereotypically derogatory Chinese man. Not only does he have a long spiny beard that he’s constantly straightening with his fingers, he regularly speaks in uber-‘Chinglish,’ constantly saying Chinese-cliché types of proverbs.”
Shane Black and writer Drew Pearce tried to mellow down the character without having to write it out of the film. In one of the early drafts, Iron Man would take on five supervillains, reducing the impact of an individual villain.
Pearce recalled:
“I pitched the twist with Shane to Kevin two days later. Kevin loved it from the beginning and backed it right the way through.”
Eventually, the script was revised, and necessary changes were made to Mandarin’s character. But in the process, the real essence of the character got lost.
Iron Man 3′s Mandarin Was Nothing Like The Comicbooks
The depiction of Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) in Iron Man 3 had nothing in common with its comic book counterpart beyond his name. The film showcased him as a terrorist of vague ethnicity. Moreover, halfway through the film, Tony Stark finds out that the Mandarin was a paid British actor backed by an evil organization to help cover its dangerous experiments.
Previously, both Black and Pearce wanted a female to play the villain, trying to rope in Jessica Chastain as Maya Hansen. However, the actress declined, and British actress Rebecca Hall landed the role.
Shane Black also said that their plans to have a female villain were derailed after they received a directive stating that this couldn’t be allowed because it was believed that the toy sales wouldn’t be as good if the character was a female.
