The appearance of The Mandarin in the latest Iron Man 3 trailer did plenty to restart fanboy speculation about a certain set of rings that were alluded to in past films, but Kevin Feige is putting an end to those rumors as quickly as he can.
Ever since Iron Man was announced back in 2006, fans have awaited the arrival of his arch-enemy The Mandarin. When the first trailer emerged, it became clear that the first Iron Man would be dealing with Obadiah Stane (known as The Iron Monger in the comics), instead of the icon that can arguably be called Iron Man’s biggest foe.
Fans theorized that The Mandarin wasn’t chosen because of Iron Man‘s firm position in reality. In the comics, The Mandarin possessed ten rings of extraordinary power. They were capable of shooting fire, ice, and well- you can see how something like that wouldn’t work out in Jon Favreau’s vision.
Will the rings retain their mystical properties and edge more towards the cosmic Marvel universe featured in Thor and The Avengers? Will Iron Man 3 stay in tune with it’s starkly realistic roots and drop the magic?
Kevin Feige has a definitive answer for fans, although it remains possible that the rings will function as more than just Jewelry on Ben Kingsley’s fingers.
“This version of The Mandarin will not follow that same backstory,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige in an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via CBM). “Don’t expect aliens.”
This news seems to confirm that Iron Man 3 will be keeping close to the realism that Jon Favreau used to begin the saga, maybe using The Mandarin to bring the trilogy around full circle (pun intended).
Don’t know what we’re talking about? Check out the symbol of the terrorist organization that kidnapped Stark in the first place.
