Iron Man Sequels Best Actors Worthy to play the "Real" Mandarin in Iron Man 4

[Spider-Cross]

After watching the One Shot, we learned that the real Mandarin of the Ten Rings is still out there somewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and still hasn't appeared yet in the franchise. So far, Ben Kingsley's character, Trevor Slattery is the fake Mandarin and Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian was never the actual version of the character but just a villain who adopted the name for his own purposes during the events in Iron Man 3 until Pepper killed him by blowing him up with Tony's bombs. Now the third Mandarin, who Ten Rings soldier Jackson Norriss want's Slattery to meet in person is sure to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe's real version of the character and Tony Stark's true arch enemy in the cinematic franchise. Surely after doing the One Shot and for how well it was done without bringing the actual Mandarin on set just yet and for not killing off Kingsley's character, Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios are gonna have to do the actual version of the Mandarin for the yet to be announced Iron Man 4 and they are not to slack off on wasting their time on stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy, Maggia, Hydra, or anything else and they will make sure that the real Mandarin has ten magic rings as he usually does and they will make sure that RDJ's Iron Man takes on that real Mandarin and the real Ten Rings army he leads. Whether the plot of the film be comic based or James Bond original, I'm sure that with all the time they got until they officially announce the film and it's release date, they will get the character done right.


Now incase Marvel still intends on having the character done in the film without the usual Asian ethnicity, these are the best fitting actors for the character:


Sean Penn (the #1 recommended choice for Mandarin without being Asian because of his slight resemblance to actor Ben Kingsley and believe me, he is the best bet on for the role)

Liam Neeson (Ra's Al Ghul from the Dark Knight Trilogy who starred with Kingsley in Schinder's List)

Russell Crowe

or Christian Bale (the Dark Knight Trilogy Batman)


or if Marvel Studios decides to revert to the character's original Asian nationality, then these are the best choices of Asian actors fit to play the real Mandarin but in a much more decent way and if they do, regardless of the twist and Shane Black they will be needing plenty of time to think long and hard on making the actual version work in a more decent and more appropriate way in his usual Chinese/Asian nationality;

#1 choice for Mandarin if Asian: Byung Hun Lee (Storm Shadow in the GI Joe films)

Russell Wong

 

[Spider-Cross]

Continuing where I left off with more actors worthy enough to play the real Mandarin in Iron Man 4

Will Yun Lee

Hiroyuki Sanada

Rick Yune

Kane Kosugi

or

Collin Chou

So feel free to choose which one of these actors in this article should be casted as the real Mandarin for Iron Man 4 or what ever project Marvel Studios has in mind for the character and please hurry. We gotta make sure Marvel gets the actual character done right with rings this time and that they won't screw around over other stuff like last time. So please choose who you think is best to play the real Mandarin for the 4th Iron Man movie and let Feige and Marvel Studios know ASAP.

 

[Chris B]

As cliche of a choice it is, I'm still a supporter of Chow Yun Fat. He has has the acting chops to match RDJ and the right presence.

 

[MichaelChen]

I'd go with Jason Mamoa. He's half white, half asian like The Mandarin himself. And he has that barbaric look of the character.

 

[giveyourself12%]

I'm still hoping for Ben Kingsley somehow.

 

[Slushy]

The Mandarin is a Chinese kung fu badass with magic rings of power. This guy fits perfectly:

 

[MichaelChen]

The Mandarin is not racially Chinese. He's half british, half ethnic mongol.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

No Ken Watanabe yet?

 

[chamber-music]

Andy Lau

 

[MichaelChen]

Andy Lau is pure asian. He'd be a horrible choice to play a half white character.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Many half white ethnic people have played fully ethnic people in Hollywood. Interesting that the reverse would be "horrible".

 

[Tg11]

Jet Li would be my pick for Mandarin especially because Jet Li I don't think he has ever been in a superhero film but also Jet Li he has played villains before but here as Mandarin he would be perfect

My second pick would be Sanada

 

[Chris B]

Does anyone else think that when and if Marvel ever does revisit the Mandarin in a future IM film, that maybe one way they could keep the character Asian without offending the Chinese government is by casting a non-Chinese actor?

I mean, its probably true that one of the reasons why they may've taken the approach they did in IM3 is the fear that a Chinese villain would've gotten the film banned in market that is being increasing coveted. Casting say a Japanese or South Korean actor might not be as huge of an issue.

 

[MichaelChen]

He's half white, half mongol. Best choice would be a half-asian actor like Jason Mamoa.

 

[Tg11]

Jet Li

 

[Protar]

They're in a bit of a tricky spot with the Mandarin. Cast a white actor and it's whitewashing, cast a chinese actor and it'll probably get the film banned in China. Cast a Japanese actor and you're conflating Japan and China. Jason Momoa would be a fair choice but he probably has some sort of non-compete clause given he's playing Aqua-man.

 

[Dark Raven]

Please, no Will Yun Lee or Rick Yune. They are both rather dull, especially Yune.

They could always get Mark Dacascos, who is the same age as RDJ, and also played Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-0, giving a more modern spin on the typically communist Chinese villain. He is also half Asian and would be an acceptable compromise like Mamoa, except that he wouldn't be already tied to a DC franchise.

It can't be that no Asians can ever be cast as villains for fear that it will be seen as racist. Every single person from every race has the potential to be evil. None are excluded.

Wo Fat was modernised in Hawaii Five-0, but was still a very formidable Asian villain without being a caricature or stereotype.

 

[Knight_SV]

We still don't know how many films RDJ has sign on his new contract or wether he really trolled just sign contract for other movies or another standalone iron man movie. But if marvel will do ironman 4 in phase 4 then the real mandarin should be introduced
My pick goes for sean penn

 

[Godzillasaurus]

no ken watanabe yet?

yessssss!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pink Ranger]

I don't feel Mandarin has to be Asian-Asian; I always saw him like Marvel's equivalent to Vandal Savage, an ancient evil who transcends what we now understand as race or culture. There should be some kind of "otherness" to him though, i.e. not Matthew McConaughy with his Texas accent. Sean Penn isn't a bad choice, nor is Hiro Sanada or Chow Yun Fat, depending on how they want to approach the character.

Offending the Chinese shouldn't be a problem, as long as other modern Chinese people are portrayed fairly normally in the film. The Mandarin is in some ways a relic of Asia's imperial past, so portraying that as an evil would go over fairly well in modern China.

 

[MichaelChen]

Offending the Chinese shouldn't be a problem, as long as other modern Chinese people are portrayed fairly normally in the film. .

That simply isn't true. The communist dictatorship ruling China is incredibly thin-skinned, to the point that they won't let any foreign movie with a Chinese villain into the country, even if there are plenty of positive Chinese presentations in that same movie. It's just not happening.

However, they are only thin-skinned about Chinese villains, so there is a simple solution to this: only refer to his half Mongolian, half British heritage. Comic Mandarin is a half Mongolian, half British guy who was born in China. It's the simplest of minor retcons to simply have him be born in Mongolia or Britain, especially since he's all about Genghis Khan and not China to begin. It's barely even a retcon, considering how little he cares about China itself. The guy is all Genghis Khan Genghis Khan Genghis Khan, not China China China. So it's a retcon that doesn't even meaningfully impact what he's about.

 

[Pink Ranger]

That simply isn't true. The communist dictatorship ruling China is incredibly thin-skinned, to the point that they won't let any foreign movie with a Chinese villain into the country, even if there are plenty of positive Chinese presentations in that same movie. It's just not happening.

However, they are only thin-skinned about Chinese villains, so there is a simple solution to this: only refer to his half Mongolian, half British heritage. Comic Mandarin is a half Mongolian, half British guy who was born in China. It's the simplest of minor retcons to simply have him be born in Mongolia or Britain, especially since he's all about Genghis Khan and not China to begin. It's barely even a retcon, considering how little he cares about China itself. The guy is all Genghis Khan Genghis Khan Genghis Khan, not China China China. So it's a retcon that doesn't even meaningfully impact what he's about.

You likely know more about this than I do, so I will defer to you, but in particular I was thinking about the movie Red Cliff, which was very good but also fairly blatant in its jingoism. There, obviously, both the good guys and bad guys are all Chinese, but in the case of the villains they really played up the ancient Imperial aspect of them, whereas the good guys are more like skilled outsiders who band together for a common good.

 

[MichaelChen]

"Red Cliff" is a Chinese movie with virtually every aspect controlled and created by Chinese. For obvious reasons, such movies get a pass on the whole "no Chinese villains ever!" thing. Foreign films are a whole other animal. The Chinese dictatorship has an absolute zero tolerance for Chinese villains in foreign films. No exceptions.

 

[Majik1387]

We already have a non-Asian Mandarin; Guy Pearce.

As for the actual Asian Mandarin, Will Yun Lee is a good choice, as is the cliche Chow Yun Fat and Ken Watanabe. I'm also entirely alright with Ben Kingsley being revealed as the true Mandarin.

No white actors. Enough white-washing clearly ethnic characters.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Rob Schneider. t: