Iron Man is Trying to Fix the MCU's Most Controversial Villain
A classic Iron Man villain is back in a story that will hopefully make fans forget about one of the very few unsatisfying Marvel Cinematic Universe adaptations of a character: the Mandarin.
Debuting in one of the earliest Iron Man adventures in 1963's Tales of Suspense #50 by Stan Lee and Don Heck, the Mandarin was once a Chinese man born in poverty, before he stumbled into an ancient alien ship that crash-landed on Earth. Inside the vessel, that man found the now-iconic Ten Rings, mighty artifacts that granted him the power needed to become a ruthless warlord and the head of a criminal empire. After his first encounter with Tony Stark, the Mandarin became one of his sworn enemies, and he was featured in the 2013 movie Iron Man 3. Despite being portrayed by Sir Ben Kingsley, that version of the Mandarin did not resonate with fans as it was very different from the one in the comics: an actor hired by the true villain as a decoy for his master plan. The more recent Shang Chi movie introduced the actual Mandarin as the father of the titular character, a version closer to the comics, but Marvel fans still have not forgotten the first failed attempt.
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In the Iron Man comics, the Mandarin has not appeared since his demise at the hands of Ezekiel Stane back in 2012's Invincible Iron Man vol. 1 #526 by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca. Now, Marvel's solicitation for Iron Man #22 by Christopher Cantwell and Angel Uzueta shows that the shadow of the powerful warlord is still haunting Tony Stark. The Ten Rings have resurfaced, leading to the murder of an old friend of Tony's. In response Iron Man flies to Asia in his stealth armor to track down the
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