Seeding hints of his behind-the-scenes involvement since the original Iron Man, the leader of the Ten Rings seemed to be the shoe-in for Iron Man 3. Though director Shane Black may have publically deemed Iron Man’s arch-nemesis to be “a racist caricature,” this did not exclude the Mandarin from becoming the billboard baddie. Of course that’s not without a few inevitable alterations. Despite once being imbedded within grounded means, the former realism of the Jon Favreau films, thanks to The Avengers, is now moot. When you’re surrounded by giant hulking green monsters, other-dimensional aliens, and Norse Gods, suddenly magical rings are nothing but the kitchen sink.

The Fu Manchu-esque Marvel megalomaniac first battled the armored Avenger in Tales of Suspense #50, some four whole years before his iron opponent got a titular solo title. Conceptually Tony Stark was intended as Marvels counterpart to Howard Hughes, painting industrialization into a positive light by toying with the idea of a weapons designer who’s actually, something novel to the 60’s, sympathetic. While Captain America was a product of his Gestapo-stomping generation, it’s much the same with the Silver Age Iron Man’s subtle Cold War McCarthyism and Vietnam cynicism. This American patriotism was shown through shellheads regular combating of foes like soviet Russia’s Crimson Dynamo and most poignantly the Mandarin of communist China.

Completely mismatching in every way, long-time Stark and Mandarin war holds strongly metaphoric resonance when broken down into the relevant real-world duels between fact and fictions, science versus faith. With his ten multi-purposed pieces of blinged-out rings powerful enough to make any Lantern envious, Kingsley is sure to plague Tony and (quite possibly) the Avengers, you know…aside from the already cheaply made slave-labor products (with hidden carcinogens) he keeps sending to the states. The fiend!

Yet his ten-digit arsenal is to experience some slight tampering. In the comics, the ten rings have approaching limitless power, each having an individual function that’s stemming from an extraterrestrial craft. Entertainement Weekly gained a significant quote highlighting the Mandarins taste in jewelry.

 

“Feige says we won’t get ice rays and fire beams from these rings, like in the comics, but what will we get? Smart money says they’re not just because the Mandarin has won a lot of Super Bowls. But this version of The Mandarin will not follow that same backstory, said Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios. Don’t expect aliens.”

What does this mean? Considering both magic and alien life have overwhelming presense in the Marvel movie universe as of now, it’s somewhat surprising to see them completely omitted post-Avengers. With the notable scenes of Tony’s armor seemingly becoming sentient or being controlled, it’s a safe assumption that the Mandarin rings have some part to play in their puppeteering via more technological means. Adding to the intrigue is the seeming Captain America emblem tattoo on the back of his neck probably subtly referencing his world-domineering intentions with its anarchist symbol centered within the shield. Relating are the recent set reports of Sir Ben Kingsley overwhelming fellow cast and crew.

“On his last take of his first full day as the Mandarin, when they yelled ‘Cut!’ the entire crew burst into applause, spearheaded by Mr. Downey himself,” Feige said. “It was pretty amazing to see that.” Out of the six Marvel Studios films that have come before Feige says that he can count on one hand how many times something like that has happened. “That’s what you get when you hire Sir Ben Kingsley. He’s so excited about his part and so into this character, and frankly just scaring the heck out of everybody,” Feige continued. “[The filmcrew] are like, ‘You’ve broken us out of our skeptical malaise!’ ”