Back when Shane Black(Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) was brought on to direct and co-write Iron Man 3, he expressed a severe lack of desire to use Tony Stark's arch-nemsis, the Chinese villain known as Mandarin. There seemed to be a number of reasons why, but primarily it had to do with the character's very out-dated persona mostly made up of Chinese stereotypes. Plus, throw in that China was financing a large part of the film and it seemed like a definite "no-go".
Of course it turned out to be all a ruse, and after months of speculation it was revealed that Ben Kingsley was indeed playing Mandarin, and now we're getting our first good look at him in the role. Kingsley's always been a chameleon of an actor, but not even he can pull off being Chinese, despite the traditional costume he's wearing. Chances are they'll portray him as a villain of unknown ethnic origin.
Also revealed today was a new poster, which shows Stark in his armor room, surrounded by all of the other suits he's worn over the years. This time he's deploying the brand new Mark XLVII armor, which apparently can call up the other armors to fight as drones. Expect to see more of it tomorrow when the trailer debuts.
Iron Man 3 opens on May 3rd 2013. Check out the new poster below....[EW]
