Mandarin (Marvel Cinematic Universe)


 *  NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of the Mandarin from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Mandarin (Marvel). 

"So, you mean to tell me that you don't know the history of the Mandarin himself? He was a warrior-king..... inspired generations of men through the Middle Ages, perhaps even further back in time."

- Jackson Norriss explaining about the Mandarin.

The Mandarin is a major antagonist of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, mostly in the Iron Man film series. He is the founder and leader of the terrorist organization Ten Rings, and is currently at large due to his identity remaining anonymous to the public.

Beginnings
According to Jackson Norriss, there was a rumor that the Mandarin had many followers, who described him as an ancient warrior-king that has inspired generations of men since the Middle Ages, perhaps even further back in time. It is unknown if that rumor was true or not.

Iron Man
The Mandarin doesn't appear, nor is mentioned in Iron Man, but he sets his plot in furthering the goals of the Ten Rings by arranging Raza and a couple of terrorists to kidnap Tony Stark and hold him for ransom in an attempt to gain advanced weapons for their own goals (thanks to a deal with Obadiah Stane). However, Stark escaped captivity by using his new advanced armor to defeat Stane and the terrorists, much to the Mandarin's anger.

Iron Man 2
The Mandarin doesn't appear, nor is mentioned in Iron Man 2, but it is implied that he sent one of his agents to aid Ivan Vanko to kill Stark at the Prix de Monaco. To that end, the agent gave Vanko a pass to enter the race for the opportunity. However, Stark foiled this with his armor again before using his new armor (along with Rhodes') to defeat Vanko, much to the Mandarin's anger.

Iron Man 3
The Mandarin is mentioned in Iron Man 3, where Aldrich Killian hired a drunken actor named Trevor Slattery to impersonate the Mandarin as part of Killian's true plan of using Extremis experiments as purposeful attacks on the U.S. government. Needless to say, Stark managed to avoid this by purposely self-destructing all of his armor to destroy the Extremis soldiers, allowing Pepper to defeat Killian for good.

All Hail the King
The Mandarin serves as the unseen secondary antagonist of the short film, as he is very upset at Slattery (who is currently in Seagate Prison) for making a mockery of his beliefs. As such, he sends over Jackson Norriss to break Slattery out of prison and bring him over in person. It is unknown what happened to the Mandarin afterwards as he was never mentioned again.