Previous Post Here's the link: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/10/22/iron-man-3-the-mandarin-first-look/ I think Ben Kingsley is an excellent actor. The guy does tremendous work with everything he does. As soon as I heard a while back he was on board for The Mandarin, I got excited, because he brings characters to their next level. What do you think?

Who does Feige think he's kidding? Using a non-Chinese actor to play the Mandarin has nothing to do with his fancy rationalizations. Marvel Studios wants to be able to market their movie in China, and the totalitarian government in Beijing has the tendency to ban any film that portrays their people or culture in a negative light. Marvel, like most western corporations, is cow-towing to China's dictators. Ben Kingsley may be a fine actor, but he shouldn't be playing a Chinese character. That role should have gone to a Chinese actor(doubly tragic since Hollywood has traditionally ignored Chinese people). But, the will of the despots wins out, and Marvel's bagman is stuck trying to explain their greed in as rosy a way as possible.

The Mandarin from the Iron man cartoon of the '90s was portrayed as green-skinned with goblin ears. I wonder how Feige accounts for that?