Empire Reveals Bigger And Untitled Mandarin Poster

IRON MAN 3 Villain Mandarin Center Stage In New Poster

FIRST LOOK: Ben Kingsley As The Mandarin In IRON MAN 3

Ten Rings A Major Player In IRON MAN 3?

It's looking like the terrorist group that had a hand in Tony Stark developing his Iron Man armor is getting their revenge on Stark in Iron Man 3. As LatinoReview has discovered a crew hat that reveals the Ten Rings logo. Originally, the Ten Rings had assumed to be a subtle hint to the Mandarin who dons ten rings of power. Now that the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has been confirmed it seems he very well might have been pulling the strings the entire time.

Stephanie Szostak Joins IRON MAN 3, Could She Be Playing Whitney Frost?

I'm a little late on this news but French actress Stephanie Sozstak (R.I.P.D., We Bought A Zoo, Devil Wears Prada) has joined the stellar cast of Iron Man 3. It was announced at Comic-Con during the Marvel pannel. While her character hasn't been revealed it's possible that she's been cast Whitney Frost (Madame Masque). Emily Blunt had been linked for the role before the film begun it's casting so it's possible they've just cast another actress. However, there's a bit of a link between Frost and Pepper becoming Rescue so Marvel could be holding that back for Iron Man 4. Not to mention the two other large villains Killian (Guy Pearce) and The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) already in place, it might be too crowded. That being said, it's also possible she might have been cast as Tony's quick witted secretary Kathleen Rennie. Other speculation place her as a possible candidate for Janet van Dyne (The Wasp) who could be introduced in the film.

Ben Kingsley Indeed Playing The Mandarin In 'IRON MAN 3' ?

We've been hearing lots of talk that Ben Kingsley is playing the villain The Mandarin in Iron Man 3. When it was first revealed Kingsley was in talks for the film it was immediately denied he was playing Stark's most recognizable baddie. Even when asked about his involvement during a red carpet event for The Dictator, Ben had no idea who his character was. Sources from Hong Kong and Singapore have been listing Kingsley as the Mandarin. It would make sense that Marvel's Chinese production partners could be less tight-lipped about the Iron Man 3 than Marvel and have been talking to the press to promote the movie. There is talk via ComicBookMovie coming from the set that Ben is indeed playing the ringed villain and will have twin henchmen who do most of his dirty work.

If Kingsley is playing The Mandarin he won't be straight out of the original comics. John Favreau had wanted to use him as the villain in Iron Man 2 but that was ultimately rejected by Marvel. He still held out hope that he'd be able to include him in the third film before he was replaced. Shane Black has stated that the villain was racist and had no plans to include him. However, they could always just use the name and completely change the character to fit the Extremis plot. It's possible he could make him a leader of the terrorist group Ten Rings which itself is a tease to the ten power rings Mandarin uses as weapons. Rings has been active in both of films, in the second they arranged Vanko's passport to get him to Monaco to face off with Stark on the race track.

A bulk of the production will be shooting in China (will be the setting for some of the film) which also gives the impression that he'll be involved. Yet, it's been reported by a Hong Kong paper that Mandarin won't have a Chinese background not insult the Asian audience. Marvel would also be including heroic Chinese characters including one played by Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) as a scientist friend of Tony. In Extremis, Mandarin plots to unleash the virus on the world population to even the playing-field. There are already two other villains (Coldblood/Firepower) in the film so it wouldn't hurt to see him without a suit/powers at least in this film.