Iron Man 3 director Shane Black does not regret that Mandarin twist one bit

'I thought that felt modern, it felt interesting, it felt textured'

Despite being a critically praised and making upwards of $1.2 million worldwide at the box office, some Marvel fans really hate Iron Man 3. It’s not necessarily because the film is bad (it isn’t) but because of the twist.

For those who haven't seen the film or if you need a reminder, in short, a classic Marvel villain called the Mandarin was made to be nothing like the comic book version; instead of being a magical martial artist, Ben Kingsley’s character was an actor pretending to be the Ten-Rings leader.

Over the years, it has been a contentious subject with Marvel fans who are waiting for “the real” Mandarin to appear in the Cinematic Universe (on a number of occasions, Marvel president Kevin Feige has heavily implied there is a comic-accurate character in the film universe).

Speaking about whether he regretted portraying The Mandarin as he did in Iron Man 3, director Shane Black told IGN: “We may have done our job a bit too well in a way because we succeeded in actually having a surprise in the middle of a big summer movie where you normally know virtually everything about it before you go in. And when I say we did our job too well it meant some of the fans felt fooled.

“They felt I think that they’d been led down one path and then sold a bill of goods. It’s hard. Because I want to please the fans. But in this case I thought – and we all thought – that it was just a very interesting and very layered decision to take the Mandarin [in].”

He elaborated that his Mandarin was supposed to act as a straw man terrorist, one that the villainous organisation A.I.M created and pushed on the internet.

“I thought that felt modern, it felt interesting, it felt textured. I thought to myself, ‘Hey Whiplash in Iron Man 2 – he doesn't look like Whiplash in the comics, people like it when you trade up and kind of shake it up a little.’

“And the truth is people did – I mean we made a lot of money with the movie, but there is a hardcore niche of fandom that was genuinely disappointed; they wanted to see their version. And for that I feel bad. I still like the choice we made.”

Black clarified that - if given the choice to redo the film - he would not change The Mandarin’s characterisation: “The minute you start to govern your creative impulses based on anticipation of someone else's response or their expectations then you're going to fail. You're going to fail them too. Because you're not going to surprise anybody – you’re going to be busy second-guessing what other people want and indulging that people-pleasing side of yourself.”

In other Marvel news, the studio has apparently almost found their Captain Marvel - in Brie Larson.