I don't know how to put this but this movie was the worst of the three. The rest of my rant/review will be in spoilers so if you click it it's your fault.



Usually I love comic book movies. I understand the unbelievable nature of them, take them for what they're worth, and come out saying they were good to great. This was a 7/10 and that's being generous.

I guess im in the minority as to having liked the middle section of the film with the kid and Tony doing detective work, creating rudimentary gadgets out of toys.....I loved that part of the film.

If I didnt know shit about IM or Marvel and liked movies of the Transformers ilk, I would say this movie was decent.
That said, I can not be more disappointed with this shit. Worst of the three.

Going to see this today.

Is the 3D good or not?

Shit, I was going to see it before noon so I could get the $6 ticket (advantage of working 4 ten hour shifts is having a day off a week to go see movies on the cheap), but I just got a text that I need to pick up my girl at noon because she's having a panic attack at the dentist and they are going to have to sedate her.

:shake:

Suck dude.

And to answer your question, yes. And I'm notably anti 3-D

Pick her up and drop her off at a psychologist, then go see the movie. She gets to fix whatever is bothering her in her life, and you get to see movie. Win/win.

I liked it too. I thought the dialogue was sharp and funny.

I get the criticisms of the movie, esp. plot and the Mandarin. And I was a big fan of the comics growing up. But IM3 I just enjoyed on a summer popcorn movie level. Wasn't expecting Dark Knight depth, and I thought it rose above the mindless noise of Transformer movies, which I can't stand.

I thought it was a fun, and funny, ride -- nothing more, nothing less.

She'll be sedated. Drop her off at home, go see the movie.

She'll be sedated. Play with her boobs then go to the movie.

The whole point was to see the movie for $6 instead of $15.

Which ended up happening because she had such a big panic attack that she decided to not get her wisdom teeth removed today, so I was freed up to go.

MEH.

Wish I didn't waste the money.

****ing awesome. Ben Kingsley was so great, in multiple ways. LMAO

Should be interesting to see how they explain in the next Avengers movie how Iron Man .

Shit was awesome in IMAX. And for once, a kid didn't ruin a movie.

That was awesome. Love that they didn't cave in and make Tony go all soft on him. So many great lines in this movie. Black has a real knack for giving throwaway bad guy characters in his movies funny dialogue.
Posted via Mobile Device

Easy. The bigger question is

Yeah but supposedly he destroyed all the tech? I dunno, just seems kind of cheap to say "HEY LOOK LEAVING THIS LIFE BEHIND" and then "I'M BACK DECIDED TO REBUILD EVERYTHING."

Shes smokin hot for 40.

This is what irked me though. Through the middle of the movie he's trying to fix his suit. well you find out later he has a ton at his house. Why didn't he call for one earlier? If its because they were too buried then why not get one from stark tower. It was shown in the avengers that he had some there.

One thing that's kinda disappointing is not enough War Machine/Iron Patriot action in all 3 movies combined. Shortage of him kicking ass.

I've read literally 1 Iron Man comic (Stark Resilient collection) and I want to devour more and more. Where's a good place to start? I want something HUGE.

I doubt he'll just fly into Avengers 2 like "hey dudes, changed my mind!" Coming back will probably be his arc for the movie.

Oh, absolutely. Positively. Yes. Most definitely.

But she's still showing her age.

I saw this for $4.25 and I still feel cheated.
UGH.

The Wolverine film better go over.

Just saw a new trailer for that tonight!

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vFGTkZHpXrQ?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vFGTkZHpXrQ?hl=en_US&amp;version=3&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

I have hopes for it. But the last wolverine was just pure shit

If you do read them youll find out that what they did with this movie is almost as bad as what they did to the Silver Surfer in the Fanfastic four movies.
So that you can relate it would almost be like making a Star Wars movie and havIng Darth Vader be a gay child molester who faked having the force by doing magic tricks to lure lure little kids into a rape van.
Your greatest antagonist is almost if not as important as the hero himself.
Galactus and the Mandarin are Iconic villians who were completely shit on by these movies. This is not something that this branch of Marvel movies had been doing and they were great because of it. Extremis is an afterthought Compared to the Mandarin and the Iron Patriot is a completely different entity/story line than War Machine. They completely shit on the source material and im surprised Stan Lee let it happen in a series as huge as IM. I dont see how any fan of the comics can be cool with it.

Spoiler filled but exactly how i feel. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Iron-...sed-37402.html

Yup.

This film was absolute garbage. The more I think about it, the more pissed I get thinking I spent money on it.

I really enjoyed it. I can understand the people invested in the comic book stories, but I think it is perfectly enjoyable for those that aren't into the comic book story.

I think it is a perfectly fine waste of Ben Kingsley's talents.

Nice. And I would like to point out that the whole reason they used the Mandarin name was to draw in the fanboys and get them excited because the name holds no weight with people who dont follow the comics. And then to do what they did was a slap in their faces.

Super pissed about this film.

Since the original Iron Man film, Ive waited patiently for the Mandarin to be introduced and put into a movie. THE arch-nemesis of Iron Man.

I get trailers that look insane. Ben Kingsley to play the Mandarin was brilliant casting.

Then I get to the mid-point of the film, Marvel just shoves the double bird in my face, and basicly says "**** you, we arent doing The Mandarin, but thanks for paying the price of admission, chump." "The Mandarin" in the film is just a front for some douchebag throwaway movie villain based on a character that barely had any part in the actual storyline the movie takes its material from.

We're going to give you a half-assed reimagining of the Extremis story arc, and we're going to completely shit on The Mandarin. That's what I got for my money.

I cannot believe that THE arch-nemesis of Iron Man took a back seat to a character that committed suicide in the story arc, but was somehow found to be more interesting than the ****ing Mandarin.

God Dammit. I cant believe that Favreau didnt object to this in some way. I know he wasnt directing this one, but he was still involved with it. I have no idea how anyone could think that doing this to The Mandarin was a good idea.

I think im detecting a pattern here to the love it or hate it audience.

Loved it: fans of 80s/90s action movies...basically Shane Black grafted Iron Man on top of a typical gun play action flick. Probably some old script hes had laying around since the 80s

Hated it: Comic book nerds who wanted something more faithful to the original comic book chracacters.

Blame Marvel studios heads. They are the ones who signed off on it.

Personally, im in the loved it crowd. They took a risk, and tried something that no one expected.

Marvel was heading in the right direction. The only thing that got this to the second place weekend box office gross is it was riding off of the Avengers success, and Robert Downey Jr.

Another gripe.
I understand the Avengers not being involved but you would think if terrorists were blowing shit up all over the place that SHIELD might be a little interested in that.
But I guess that would have taken screen time away from the fire breathing dragon demons.

Hahaha. The nerd rage is palpable.

Don't really care about the comic books. It was a great movie, and easily the best Iron Man movie. Never liked the first one past the origin story, and the second one had weak villains, as entertaining as it was.

Look back through this thread. That's not a flaw just with this movie, that's a flaw inherit to all Comic book heros that are part of established larger universe.

They did their best to try and isolate Stark and threw a line in there from Cheadle about "terrorists, not being superhero business".



But yea, it is what it is and sometimes you just have to roll with it.

I'm right there with you. I fully acknowledge there are problems. But the fact is that I am/became emotionally invested in the characters and was entertained. Mission accomplished.

But I empathize with the people that hated it. There are a lot o movies that I can't suspend my disbelief because of my experiences. I'm sure this is the same way.

And IMO the movies, avengers in particular is worth it.

Well I work really hard (as we all do!!!) and can appreciate some simple down time. I saw it Sunday at "before 4:00" prices and I was entertained... It was worth the price for sure. And taking away the worries and letting we kill the cell for a few hours was worth even more! Like!!

SHIELD is not an organization of super heroes.
EDIT: Im also all for keeping characters story lines separate and isolated but if youre going to kidnap the president of the United States youre gonna have to expect people to wonder why no one else seems to give a shit.

I also would like to acknowledge the fact that if you were not going into this movie with fanboy expectations it was entertaining and a well made movie.
I was still pissed when I threw out the Transformers comparison as that is not accurate at all.
That doesnt mean Im backing off my feelings about where this movie went.

What I can admit is that they probably could have made a BETTER movie with a full-fledged rendition of The Mandarin.

I'm not sure why they didn't try to do that. Maybe too ambitious.

I've decided it's a not-very-good film, but was still enjoyable. Just too many flaws.

1.) The stupid kid in the middle act. No purpose whatsoever.

2.) "The Mandarin", and taking a giant shit on the fanboys and the canon.

3.) Too much Tony Stark out of the suit.

4.) Sucky end action-scene too reminiscent of "Iron Man 2". Empty suits controlled by a computer? Really?

5.) "Iron Patriot". Another shit on the fanboys.

What saved it:

1.) Robert Downey Jr.

2.) See #1.

The kid was awesome. Shut up. Be entertained.

Wow....lots of butthurt in the tread.... Let it go man!!!

Pretty much where I'm at.

I love the idea of him still being a man. That the events of Avengers ****ed with his head. Very good idea and Jr. did a good job pulling it off.

The BS with the villain $3it was horribly stupid...

This.

Finally saw it this afternoon. Really enjoyed it. Probably my favorite of the 3, and my favorite non-Avengers Marvel flick so far.

I actually liked the villain set-up, although they're dipping into the same general type villain pool too much. And Kingsley was a little too goofy when revealed.

But I liked everything else about it, including much to my surprise the kid. I thought for sure I'd hate that.

2 thumbs up

Like!

..and now the supposed real scoop on Marvel once again being stingy ****s when it comes to paying their talent...



WEDNESDAY MAY 08, 2013 FULL WEBSITE »
Marvel and Robert Downey Jr. Are Fighting Over Money
BY ESTHER ZUCKERMAN | 12:03 PM ET
In Iron Man 3 Robert Downey Jr. (a.k.a. Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man) may have defeated the Mandarin, saved the president, and reunited with Pepper Potts, but perhaps his upcoming battle&mdash;the one that will lead to future adventures&mdash;will be the most interesting. Yes, Downey is facing off with executives from Marvel.
A series of reports, including one particularly juicy one from Nikki Finke of Deadline, explained how Downey is not locked in for any future films as Tony Stark, including the in-development Avengers 2. Downey received a massive paycheck from the first Avengers, which grossed over $1 billion. According to Finke, he took in $50 million for that film (which she says was "more like $70 million-$80 million now that the film is all in."). She says he should exceed that for Iron Man 3.
Borys Kit and Paul Bond of The Hollywood Reporter report Marvel is trying to woo Downey for those future films. A private dinner Monday at Spago in Los Angeles "kicked off a crucial period for Disney, Marvel and Downey" as they have now entered negotiations for his future in the franchise. It will be tricky. Downey has made, and probably wants, a lot of money to continue as Stark, but Finke explains: "Marvel and its famously frugal CEO Ike Perlmutter still give new meaning to the term stingy."
And just as Iron Man might be the ringleader of sorts for the Avengers, Downey is the ringleader for the Avengers cast, some of whom made much less than he did for the first movie and may not be eager to get suited up for the second if they don't get their payday. An "insider" told Finke that: "Some received only $200,000 for Avengers and Downey got paid $50 million. On what planet is that OK?" Meanwhile, she reports that some cast members aren't that excited even with the obvious box office potential. Chris Hemsworth reportedly groaned about having to bulk up for the second Thor installment, and Scarlett Johansson told castmates that she won't "cut her quote" for the Avengers sequel, meaning that she won't work for less than the highest she's been paid.
But Marvel is not afraid of recasting roles. Three actors have played the Hulk since 2003, for instance, but none of them wielded the power of Downey. Meanwhile, when Terrence Howard left the Iron Man franchise, money issues were mentioned as a reason.
Downey, meanwhile, has been coy about his future in the role of Iron Man. Take, for instance, his appearance last night on Jimmy Kimmel's show. He proposed starting a Kickstarter for Iron Man 4, given that he wasn't "getting a lot of support." It's a joke but Downey is, as the cliché goes, laughing all the way to the bank.


During Downey's visit at The Daily Show, he told Jon Stewart that he doesn't know whether he's going to keep going and now is the time when he's going to "renegotiate."
While Marvel and Disney could just give Downey the piles of money he wants, Marvel has been a tough negotiator, and they might surprise us all. Latino Review's El Mayimbe wondered on Twitter if Marvel might set "a precedent that they are a company that won't cave in to actor demands and severs the RDJ relationship." But if Downey goes does everyone else go with him? And does that mean that Marvel has to start from scratch when it comes to building up the clout it established with The Avengers? There's an interesting, and perhaps fraught road ahead.
Related Content

Lauren Conrad's Book-Destroying Oopsy

Avengers Trailer: Irresistible Corporate Synergy Arrives

Edgar Wright Will Direct the Best Marvel Movie You'll Never See
Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments
Please type your comment and click Post. If you&rsquo;re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

Home | Full Website
Copyright 2013 The Atlantic Monthly Group

The counterpoint to above article: http://www.chud.com/135091/lets-stop...l-is-shall-we/

Considering that they just shit all over the Mandarin, and there's no way that in the current continuity they can just "undo" that and actually get the real Mandarin into a film, there's not really much left to do for Iron Man that hasnt already been done.

Bring him in for Avengers 2 to team up and square off against Thanos, but as far as more Iron Man films, there's only so much of this you can do before it becomes stale. IM 1 was brilliant. 2 had a lot of action but was a bit of a letdown and 3....well lets just say Im putting IM 3 in that same little file along with Spider-Man 3, and X-3. Movies that just forgot where they came from and took a giant crap on the fans of the comics.

Id like RDJ back for Avengers 2, but as far as more Iron Man films, just stop before they get any worse IMO.

I was reading in the last days that Downey was getting concerned about the wear and tear on his body playing Iron Man. He has had something happen during the filming of him playing Iron Man.

Ya it was in a print article but that could easily have been said to work the backchaennels

Spider-Man 3 and X-3 were two of the worst comic movies to date, but it didn't have anything to do with fandom or continuity. They were simply awful movies. Iron Man 3 isn't even remotely in that ballpark.

How was it a great movie? Do you mean it was enjoyable for you to watch and take part in the experience of viewing it in a theater? Because if that is what you are saying, then yes, it was a great movie. If you are saying it was a well crafted film with solid writing and direction, then you are reeruned.

And I don't give a shit about how faithful they were to the comics.

This.

Those were not Marvel Studio movies. They are just licensed characters to the other studios.

I did read the Marvel got the rights back to Daredevil and Blade just recently. Maybe they could get a movies again.

Yes.

It ****ing kicked ass.

The fanboy squees inside me are never louder than they are for Iron Man.

**** Chris Hemsworth, dude is making bank and is getting set for life on these movies and he is upset about having to bulk up?

Pretty rediculous how much Downey is raking in, I love him in the part but $50m - $80m seems outrageous.

Ghost Rider was a Marvel movie, so was Punisher: War Zone. At least Blade 1 and 2 were great movies. Regardless of the studio, a poor movie is a poor movie.

Minus the Spidey comparison, this.

The entire second half of the movie I couldn't stop thinking...

"Is that it? Is that really the Mandarin? He's got to be trying to fool Iron Man. Are we going to see him again? Was that really it?!"

I kept waiting for a news reporter scene similar to the way the movie started showing shots of an explosion at a prison and reports that the Mandarin escaped, dozens dead. I wondered if maybe the Mandarin was somewhere on shore or offshore watching the final combat scenes.

Yes it was a fun movie, but they never should have used the Mandarin. He was a pointless character the way he was used. They could have come up with any throw away character. No excuse for destroying the character like that.

I too hope Iron Man 3 was the last we'll see of Tony Stark (well, and Avengers 2). Villians are as important to a storyline as the hero.

I've read reports that it's more of a financial issue for hemsworth. He made around 150k from the avengers and marvel reportedly made a similar offer for the sequel.

Avengers is a ****ing golden goose. RDJ should get less, some others should get more. There should be concessions on both ends because nobody wants to be the one to kill the golden goose.

No kidding. Ppl actually still read comic books LOLLOLOL whut

These characters are decades old. This isn't about our current reading material (I can't remember the last time I read a comic book). This is about stomping on our childhood dreams!!!
:cuss: :D

I know I'm going to get burned for this, but I liked transformers I & II. They weren't great movies, but they were the kind of check your brain at the door and smile at the pretty colors type of films that I enjoy. On top of that, I don't know much about the Iron Man comics, and I still agree with you, this movie was terrible.

Has ANY movie fully followed the comic books to a T? Not that I can think of. What people have to realize is that these companies aren't making these movies to satisfy the comic nerds. They're doing it to draw in EVERYONE.

Shit....even Nolan's Batman sucked if you look at it from a strictly "follow the comic book" view.

Oh, I agree completely. I just think that stepping on the Mandarin was stupid and overboard.

The Mandarin was a draw to the comic nerds, not the common movie goer. No reason to even use him like that, since the EVERYONE group would have been just as happy with any costumed idiot, not knowing who the Mandarin is. It was basically a big "**** you" to the comic nerds if you ask me. The Mandarin was not needed to draw in the EVERYONE group, but he was highly anticipated by the comic nerds.

I agree with this. It was a cheap ploy to get the fan boys to spend their money, nothing more. The script was shit, so I can imagine at one point The Mandarin was probably a legit bad guy, but they couldn't figure out how to get the glowing orange human dragons to fit with that story line, so they gave AIM main billing and made The Mandarin a puppet, for which they probably patted themselves on the back for being "geniuses". It was a convoluted mess of a script with pretty bad direction. If it wasn't for RDJ this movie would be forever relegated to the shit heap (and that is why RDJ gets paid $35 million for this movie).

Fan boys were going to see this movie whether it had Mandarin in it or not.

The wife and I saw this on Monday we were disappointed. Not good IMO, very forgettable.

True, which makes the decision to neuter the Mandarin and piss them off even dumber. There was absolutely no reason for wasting such a great villain on a lame attempt at a plot twist.

It did seem to flounder after the "reveal", but I still enjoyed it. Probably because of RDJ. Well, as mentioned earlier, Piper was looking good too!

Yeah there was a scene where I saw her stomach and literally said, "holy shit" out loud. I had no idea she was that fit/attractive.

Yeah, I think that part made me say, "Mandarin who?"

As a lifelong comics fan and someone who still reads 15-20 books a month, I can't believe there is this much affection for The Mandarin. He's dated and vaguely racist, and really only achieves his position of prominence because Iron Man has a shallow rogues gallery. People have been trying to fix him for the past 20 years. I don't see this as something like X-Men 3, where they wasted the the greatest X-Men story ever. I mean, what is the great Mandarin story? What about the character makes him Iron Man's best villain? It's not like we're talking about Magneto, Lex Luthor, or the Joker here.

As someone who stopped reading comic books about 20 years ago, I have no idea what "trying to fix him" means. Iron Man was never one of my favorites, but the Mandarin was one of the few villains I remember. Regardless of how he got his prominence, he is still a prime adversary.

Before seeing this I had very low expectations of the portrayal of the Silver Samurai coming up, now I have even lower. Silver Samurai is no Mandarin, but he's a character story I absolutely loved in the first solo volume of Wolverine. If Iron Man were my Wolverine, and they expected a Jackie Chan style performance (who I love BTW) for Silver Samurai, I'd never watch another movie in the series again.

It's not just about the character and how PC they are, it's about our memories of them in certain times of our lives. I'd hate to read some 50's and 60's sci-fi all PC'd up. Hell, next you'll want to remake Star Trek and have a sober Scotty or chivalrous Kirk. I'm worried enough about how there going to ruin Kahn!

If a character is "dated and vaguely racist", then create a new one. Or if you must update him for the times, do so. Don't rewrite him into something completely different. He may not be the Joker, but he sure is a hell of a lot better than the Penguin (or at least he was).

I agree with this here. I was a huge fan of the movie but it had absolutely nothing to do with the Mandarin portrayal. Dude is a low-tier villain in my eyes. I could probably name 20 more prominent villains in Marvel alone off the top of my head..

The Penguin (the comics gentleman gangster version, not the movies sewer mutant) is a much better villain than the Mandarin. Anyway, it's not about political correctness, it's about the fact that in 2013 this:
http://i.imgur.com/GD26XG5.jpg

is ****ing ridiculous. And yes, lots of comics from the 60s look ridiculous now, and most if not all of the characters that are still around have been reconceptualized for modern audiences. The way you do that is you take the essential core of the character, the thing that makes them interesting in the first place, and you build off it. The problem is that the Mandarin doesn't really have the core. That's what I meant when I said people have been trying to fix him for the past 20 years, comics writers and artists have been trying to come up with a working modern take. And, as far as I'm concerned at least, none of them have really succeeded. The Mandarin's most compelling trait continues to be the fact that he's Iron Man's archenemy. Why is he Iron Man's archenemy? No reason, he just is.

And I think that's why they used him they way they did in the movie, because his status in the minds of the fans makes the twist work. I actually really liked Ben Kingsley's performance and thought that their take on the Mandarin worked pretty well as an update of the character. But when I ask myself, would I have liked the movie better if they had just done the Mandarin as another straightforward terrorist, I don't think I would have. Killian isn't a perfect villain (his motivations could have been better thought out, for one thing) but I appreciate the genuinely surprising twist and the attempt at something different.

Basically I think a lot of the disappointment comes from a place of ignorance. I don't mean this as a dig against you or even anyone in this thread in particular, but I think a lot of people who follow this stuff casually knew the Mandarin was considered Iron Man's archenemy, but didn't actually know anything about him. They're upset because they think a great character was wasted, but they don't realize how little meat was on those bones to begin with.

Yes. All comics in the 60s look silly.
This is the Mandarin.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps5061824a.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...ps4a441211.jpg
Why is he IM's arch rival? WTF?? He is without a doubt the greatest foe IM ever had, and kicked his ass more than once.
If you are having a hard time figuring out just who is, which it seems like you are, here ya go.

Born circa 1920, the future Mandarin was raised by his embittered aunt following his parents’ deaths, and as an adult he used his brilliance and family wealth to attain prominence in the Kuomintang Party’s reign over China. The Communist Revolution of 1949 cost him his position and power, although the population he had once commanded still regarded him with nigh-mystic awe. After years of seeking some means of regaining greatness, he ventured into the mysterious Valley of Spirits, where he discovered the millennia-old wreckage of a starship of the reptilian Kakaranatharian, or Makluan, extraterrestrial race, and the ten mighty rings which had powered the vessel. Unaware that the Makluans themselves remained at large, posing as humans, the Mandarin spent decades mastering Makluan technology, then several years more conquering the valley’s adjacent villages and establishing a network both of citadels and of loyal followers such as Po, Yu, and Li Fong. His long-range goal was to conquer China, and then the world, which he claimed he would rule with the “wisdom and harmony” of his nobleman ancestors. During these years he fathered a son, Temujin, whom he sequestered in a remote monastery, and took the girl later known as Madam Macabre as a student; another girl, Mei-Ling, became betrothed to marry him in adulthood. He also discovered the dormant alien robot Ultimo within a volcano, and worked for years to revive him using a combination of science and magic.

In recent years, seeking assistance to master the Makluan rings’ full power, the Mandarin became the patron of the Sin-Cong revolutionary Wong Chu, who abducted the Chinese genius Ho Yinsen and American industrialist Tony Stark. However, Yinsen sacrificed his life to enable Stark to escape and overwhelm Wong Chu’s forces using his first Iron Man armor. After disciplining Wong Chu for his failure, the Mandarin had the opportunity to stop Iron Man from departing but, intrigued, allowed him to pass unhindered, little realizing the armored hero would become his most persistent nemesis.

Several months later, Iron Man visited China to investigate the Mandarin for the U.S. government. Using the rings and his own combat skills, the Mandarin nearly defeated Iron Man, who nonetheless outwitted him and escaped. Soon after, the pair again clashed when the Mandarin pulled Stark surveillance missiles from the sky to use for his own purposes, then manipulated the Chinese government into test-firing a missile which, unknown to them, was intended to trigger world war, but Iron Man defeated him both times. Affected by Doctor Doom’s Emotion Charger, the Mandarin next joined many other super-villains in attacking the Fantastic Four’s Richards-Storm wedding; later, he recruited the Swordman, whose sword he equipped with greater technological weaponry, to serve as his spy within the Avengers, but the Swordsman ultimately balked at destroying the Avengers and betrayed him.

Finally activating Ultimo, the gloating Mandarin teleported Stark to his citadel to observe the supposed triumph, but Iron Man lured the giant back into the volcano, temporarily imprisoning him. Later, Iron Man again prevented his foe from provoking world war with a second missile scheme. Reactivating Ultimo and rehiring the Swordsman, along with Living Laser, Power Man (later Atlas of the Thunderbolts), Enchantress, and the Executioner, the Mandarin launched an effort to empower a world-wide hate-ray, only to be foiled by the Avengers. He next mentally controlled the Hulk and used him to wreak havoc, thinking each nation would blame the other for the behemoth’s attacks, but his control was disrupted by Nick Fury and Yuri Brevlov of S.H.I.E.L.D. Undaunted, the Mandarin, now accompanied by the adult Mei-Ling, used a Hulk robot to abduct Stark’s lover Janice Cord while framing Stark himself for enemy conspiracy, but Mei-Ling, touched by Cord’s love for Stark and disillusioned by the Mandarin’s cruelty, sacrificed her life helping Iron Man defeat him. A second attempt to control the Hulk with the help of the Sandman also failed, as did efforts to foment unrest by abducting peacemaker Dr. Robert Hoskins, who was rescued by Captain America.

Hoping to enhance his rings’ already phenomenal power, the Mandarin manipulated the Royal Family of Inhumans into obtaining the mystic Eye of Yin, created centuries ago by Makluan-trained sorcerers, but he was overpowered by Black Bolt, who absconded with his rings. After allying himself with the former Russian super-operative Unicorn, the Mandarin regained the rings via a Makluan headband device and returned his attention to Tony Stark. In the identity of Gene Kahn, he stirred unrest among Stark’s employees, then, when exposed, fought Iron Man alongside the Unicorn. However, careless use of the headband inadvertently switched the Mandarin’s consciousness with that of the terminally ill Unicorn, and he quickly abandoned the fight to rectify the situation. Adding insult to injury, he discovered that a rival mastermind, the Yellow Claw, had, at the prodding of the extradimensional Black Lama, seized his current base, one of his Chinese castles, in his absence. Retiring to an underwater base, the Mandarin captured Sunfire and forced him to power the machinery that restored him to his rightful body, but even with Ultimo’s aid, regaining his castle was not so simple. Iron Man and Sunfire intervened in the conflict, which ended with the Mandarin seemingly slain by the Yellow Claw’s robot surrogate, the Makluan rings claimed by the Claw’s servant Loc Do.

However, the Mandarin’s new control of his consciousness enabled him to transfer his intellect into the rings themselves, and he remade Loc Do’s body into a younger version of his own. Despite his new body, his customary schemes to foment world war were once more thwarted by Iron Man. Efforts to obtain Wakanda’s Vibranium via the resurrected Killmonger proved no more successful, and his attempt to destroy China’s rice crops, intended to drive the Chinese government into invading other nations, was disrupted by an alternate Iron Man (Stark’s temporary replacement Jim Rhodes). Later, while experimenting with his rings, the Mandarin was rendered comatose; although he recovered physically, he was left amnesiac when elderly Chen Hsu, the millennia-old captain of the disguised Makulans, stole and replaced one of his rings, still tied to his consciousness and thus necessary to restore his memory fully. As Zhang Tong, the Mandarin, still driven by a need for conquest, became a criminal overlord in Hong Kong, allowing ten underlings to use his rings as his operatives in the so-called Hand. Having no memory of his grudge against Stark, he sought to force a business alliance but was again foiled by Iron Man, who nonetheless found himself unable to interfere with his opponent’s criminal network. Soon afterward, the Mandarin joined several other masterminds in the so-called “Acts of Vengeance” anti-superhero conspiracy, then allied with Matsuo Tsurayaba of the ninja Hand, but these endeavors were disrupted by the Avengers and the X-Men, and subsequent worldwide attacks on crime prevention specialists were ended by Nick Fury’s intervention.

Eventually recognizing Chen Hsu’s theft, the Mandarin confronted the old man, who returned both his ring and his memory, then guided him in commanding the gigantic Makluan dragon Fin Fang Foom, with whom the Mandarin soon seized control of one-third of his native land. Tony Stark and James Rhodes, both armored as Iron Man, intervened, but the Mandarin turned against Hsu and Foom upon learning that the Makluans wanted to rule Earth themselves; with Stark channeling his own armor’s power through the rings, the Mandarin seemingly destroyed the Makluans, but his hands were burned off in the process. Eventually recovering, he grew new reptilian hands and recovered his rings, then discovered the Thuviskaroth of Cataphylaxis, a.k.a. the Heart of Darkness, a centuries-old talisman of cosmic evil. Forced through a psychological gauntlet in which he overcame personifications of his earlier schemes, he emerged near-mad with supernatural power and, in a departure from his usual methods, mystically reverted China to its medieval state, supposedly saving the world from the corruption of the technology he had commanded so long, with the assistance of the superhuman Avatars. While War Machine (Jim Rhodes) and Force Works fought the Avatars, Iron Man penetrated the Mandarin’s defenses and infected him with a techno-organic virus, nullifying his Heart’s mystic bond and again rendering him amnesiac as the janitor Chu.

Regaining his identity, the Mandarin rebuilt his power base once more, clashing with Squirrel Girl and using the Espionage Elite, the Dreadnoughts, and others to undermine Stark, whom he now knew to be Iron Man and of whose capabilities he was unsure following the hero’s revival from the Onslaught crisis. Aboard his immense aircraft, the Dragon of Heaven, the Mandarin invaded Russia using a mercenary army fought by the Avengers and Winter Guard, but this was merely a pretext to lure Iron Man into action and better test him in battle. Although satisfied Iron Man indeed remained a worthy adversary, the knowledge seemed to do the Mandarin little good when Iron Man destroyed the Dragon of Heaven’s power source, toppling it from the sky. The Mandarin was seemingly slain in the disaster, but this may be only the latest of the many seeming deaths from which he has returned.


More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/universe/Mandarin#ixzz2SxJa6nyw


FTR. I don't read comics anymore. Haven't for years, but loved them as a kid, and have read a ton of stuff about my favorite characters since the first X-men came out. Love the Marvel universe.