Marvel president of production Kevin Feige was asked this very question by IGN, and left the possibilities wild open. As far as the Mandarin goes, Feige said:
“There have been [talks]. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to do the fun short [All Hail the King] that Drew Pearce wrote and directed. That was to clarify, ‘Hey, just because we did this thing doesn’t mean this other thing doesn’t exist.’ And as we were making Iron Man 3 – and I think Drew’s spoken about this – that was always our intention, was that Aldrich Killian was perverting the notion of these things he’s heard.
There’s a little bit of that when he’s doing his detective work in his lab after Happy’s been injured outside the Chinese Theater. He’s talking about, ‘Okay, the Mandarin is taken from various iconographies and mythologies from across the world.’ The idea was always there was somebody like this. There had been rumors of somebody like this, and Aldrich Killian just built on that, to make his version.”
Whether or not you believe that Marvel had a long-term plan for the “real” Mandarin aside (personally, I don’t), it will certainly be interesting to see how things progress from here. Many fans were upset by how Iron Man’s arch-nemesis was portrayed in Iron Man 3, so there’s certainly a desire to see the “real” version of the character done justice.
As for Cap’s nemesis, Red Skull, Feige was a bit more cryptic, saying:
“Well, the way we showed his ‘demise’ in The First Avenger was to showcase to people that he could perhaps pop up again sometime. I honestly don’t know when or where that would be. “
Given that HYDRA has been brought back into the forefront after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which had tremendous effects on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., it’s easy to see how Red Skull could come back into the fold. However, the big caveat with his reappearance is whether or not Hugo Weaving would be interested in reprising the role. He’s contractually obligated for another appearance, but has stated in interviews that he’s not particularly interested in doing another Marvel movie. If that’s the case, would Marvel force him to come back, or simply recast the role?
What do you think of Feige’s comments? Would you like to see Red Skull and The Mandarin on screen again? How do you think they should be brought back? Sound off in the comment section below.
