Marvel Movies Rethinking the Mandarin?

As much as I loved the Mandarin reveal in Iron Man 3 for being both a true surprise and a very different kind of villain, it’s no secret that hardcore fans were upset that shellhead’s arch-foe turned out to be a fraud. Even the pseudo-revelation that Aldrich Killian was “the real Mandarin” didn’t sooth over any hurt feelings on that score. So when Ben Kingsley mentioned he’d be doing something else with Marvel, naturally it got us all speculating.

Now Latino Review, which has a decent track record on Marvel predictions, is saying that Kingsley will be back as Trevor Slattery, drunk actor, for a One Shot short film…and that the REAL real Mandarin is pissed at both him and Killian. All of which brings us back to the original Mandarin issue – how do you portray him as something other than the racial stereotype that he is?

And without Downey signed for Iron Man 4 yet, what’s the point of bringing back the Mandarin? He doesn’t exactly make sense in any other hero’s movie.

Take this as an easy guess for now; for once, I have strong doubts about this rumor. Time will tell how real it is. But if it is, is this a development you want to see?