Last week we reported on a rumour that Ben Kingsley’s recently-filmed Marvel One-Shot would feature the debut of the “real Mandarin” , a plot twist that would seemingly undo much of the storyline of Iron Man 3 .
That film’s screenwriter Drew Pearce has since commented upon the rumour, appearing to shoot it down with the comment, “One thing I know for sure: nobody's going to be apologizing for the Mandarin twist any time soon.”
Kingsley himself refused to be drawn on the rumour in a recent interview with Vanity Fair , but has hinted at the studio’s ongoing eagerness to surprise its fans…
“Marvel was so brilliant in the way they kept the transition from the Mandarin to Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3 ,” says Kingsley. “They were absolutely brilliant at it.
“I so respect the way they dearly want to surprise their audiences. But we will just have to leave [ the Mandarin theory ] in the realm of rumour.”
As we mentioned at the time, the idea of introducing a “real Mandarin” in the next One-Shot seems fairly unlikely, but it has certainly served to generate interest in the new short, the release date of which has yet to be revealed…