Integration

Greenskar · 05-04-2013, 08:51 AM

There is absolutely no way the Mandarin as he exists in comics would have ever worked in a movie in today's modern society. Shane Black said it himself, that the Mandarin in today's era is a racist caricature of a villain and would not put him in the movie unless he was reimagined.

I thought the Mandarin, prior to the reveal, was way too overly theatrical with his terrorism trailers that kept popping up on TV and was worried this was going to feel extremely cliche. Then the reveal made it all make sense as to why and kept the movie grounded and not just another TDKR Bane type character.

Matt fraction in the comics reimagined the Mandarin as well and so many comic fans shat all over him for it because they loved the Mandarin from the "Haunted" storyline. While I agree that it (Haunted) was the best story I've read about the Mandarin, it also kept him the stetreotypical mystical Kung Fu Asian villain.

Times have changed since the Mandarin was first created and the Peoples Republic of China had its doors closed to the world and no one could pay a visit. They also represent a huge market for distributing movies and American goods. Kill that by making a character with Chinese stereotypical cultural references from America who gets beat up in the end by the Americans and can people really not do the math as to why it would have been a terrible idea?

So why not just keep the terrorist thing going like the movie trailers intended? Because the angle has been played out to death post 9/11. That the Mandarin was more of a smokescreen for a larger effort and was just a symbol of power was brilliant...for a movie. A villain you could never see or touch but could strike at any moment at anytime is the epitome of terrorism. We found Bin Laden...finding the Mandarin stopped nothing at that point in time.

But damn...Extremis dudes were crazy powerful and all the armors that got ripped to shreds or chopped in half made me sad, lol. The only real character who disappointed me was Maya Hansen. Her character was pretty worthless in the movie.

Also...am I the only one who caught that Tony is now fused with his version of Extremis in the end hence the final "I am Iron Man"?!

05-04-2013, 08:51 AM	#128
Greenskar Puny Humans Join Date: May 2009 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,342	There is absolutely no way the Mandarin as he exists in comics would have ever worked in a movie in today's modern society. Shane Black said it himself, that the Mandarin in today's era is a racist caricature of a villain and would not put him in the movie unless he was reimagined. I thought the Mandarin, prior to the reveal, was way too overly theatrical with his terrorism trailers that kept popping up on TV and was worried this was going to feel extremely cliche. Then the reveal made it all make sense as to why and kept the movie grounded and not just another TDKR Bane type character. Matt fraction in the comics reimagined the Mandarin as well and so many comic fans shat all over him for it because they loved the Mandarin from the "Haunted" storyline. While I agree that it (Haunted) was the best story I've read about the Mandarin, it also kept him the stetreotypical mystical Kung Fu Asian villain. Times have changed since the Mandarin was first created and the Peoples Republic of China had its doors closed to the world and no one could pay a visit. They also represent a huge market for distributing movies and American goods. Kill that by making a character with Chinese stereotypical cultural references from America who gets beat up in the end by the Americans and can people really not do the math as to why it would have been a terrible idea? So why not just keep the terrorist thing going like the movie trailers intended? Because the angle has been played out to death post 9/11. That the Mandarin was more of a smokescreen for a larger effort and was just a symbol of power was brilliant...for a movie. A villain you could never see or touch but could strike at any moment at anytime is the epitome of terrorism. We found Bin Laden...finding the Mandarin stopped nothing at that point in time. But damn...Extremis dudes were crazy powerful and all the armors that got ripped to shreds or chopped in half made me sad, lol. The only real character who disappointed me was Maya Hansen. Her character was pretty worthless in the movie. Also...am I the only one who caught that Tony is now fused with his version of Extremis in the end hence the final "I am Iron Man"?! __________________ Last edited by Greenskar; 05-04-2013 at 08:59 PM..