INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

‘Iron Man 3’ Mandarin Twist: Director Shane Black Still Likes What He Did, Even Though Many Fans Didn’t [Op-Ed]

By David Cornell
Published on: 05:48 PST, Jun 3, 2016

The Mandarin from Iron Man 3 was exactly what director Shane Black had intended, and even after all of the backlash over the movie’s infamous twist, he still likes what he did. Yes, there was backlash over the fact that the film’s advertising and trailers promised us that we’d see Iron Man fight his comic book nemesis at last, and it was all a fake-out.

At least Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gave us Lex Luthor (technically the son of the classic Superman villain) and Doomsday after showing them in the trailers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiU_8qZLFOs

This isn’t even the full problem with Iron Man 3, as almost every major character except Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) wore one of his suits more than he did, and it was Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts who ended up stopping the actual villain. The film tried to imply through Guy Pierce’s Aldrich Killian that the once-overlooked fan of Tony Stark was the real Mandarin, but the fans just weren’t convinced in general.

The real Mandarin in the comics is a man of Asian descent who uses the power of the Ten Rings to manipulate the forces of the universe, much like the Infinity Gauntlet once the stones are in place. Promotional materials showed us over and over through Ben Kingsley’s performance and speeches that the villain would indeed be the ring-wielding mastermind with magic abilities. The ads continued to lie over and over, and when Ben Kingsley was revealed as British actor and druggie Trevor Slattery playing a role for the camera, most fans turned against the film.

In the end, all Iron Man 3 really did was explain why Pepper Potts hasn’t been in any MCU films since then and why Tony Stark no longer has the massive “pacemaker” in his chest. As for pure storytelling, it might have worked in an origin story for a non-Marvel superhero, but Shane Black committed the worst felony against comic book purists.

Shane even stated that Marvel’s one-shot All Hail the King was Marvel’s apology to the fans. There are rumors that Iron Man 4 might finally give us the real Mandarin, Ten Rings and all, if it ever happens. Magic is starting to become commonplace in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Scarlet Witch having joined the Avengers and the upcoming Doctor Strange being filmed, so bringing in more magic villains could be more familiar and welcome if it actually happens.

Shane Black has said that even though he doesn’t regret his Iron Man 3 twist, he feels remorse for the fans.

“We may have done our job a bit too well in a way because we succeeded in actually having a surprise in the middle of a big summer movie where you normally know virtually everything about it before you go in. And when I say we did our job too well it meant some of the fans felt fooled. … It’s hard, [because] I want to please the fans. … [There] is a hardcore niche of fandom that was genuinely disappointed; they wanted to see their version. And for that I feel bad. I still like the choice we made.”

Iron Man 3 director Shane Black concluded by saying if he could do it again, he would, stating that creativity should not be held back. He feels that when you start giving in to what you think the fans would like, you fail as an artist.

MORE RELATED STORIES:

[Image via Marvel]

Share this article: ‘Iron Man 3’ Mandarin Twist: Director Shane Black Still Likes What He Did, Even Though Many Fans Didn’t [Op-Ed]
More from Inquisitr