Kevin Feige On ‘The Ten Rings’ Group In IRON MAN 3 And Ben Kinglsey’s ‘The Mandarin’
Expressing his and Marvel Studios' excitement upon seeing Sir Ben Kingsley being fitted with the Ten Rings for the first time and more, Kevin Feige explains the terrorist organization's role in Iron Man 3.
“The Ten Rings is a terrorist organization that we set up really for the eagle-eye fans. Yinsen, in “Iron Man 1,” says they call themselves the Ten Rings, and that was our allusion to the ten rings of the Mandarin. In “Iron Man 2,” in a deleted scene, it is a member of this Ten Rings organization that gives Whiplash the credentials that allow him to infiltrate the Monaco race and come in and cut Tony Stark’s car in half. In this movie again we wanted to explore a little bit more of this terrorist notion of the Ten Rings, which is why you’ll sometimes see the Ten Rings’ flag as seen in “Iron Man 1” behind the Mandarin in a couple of his terrorist videos that he puts out around the world. But it all goes to the ten rings of the Mandarin himself, and you will see the famous ten rings on Sir Ben, and, frankly, fitting Sir Ben with the ten rings as designed by Russell Bobbitt, our prop master, was one of those “Oh my god we’re actually doing this; the comics are coming to life in front of us” moments on “Iron Man 3” and Ben wears them well. Then the moment when the ten rings came in and we watched Sir Ben fitting them for the first time was great too.”
“When we were casting the part, we wanted somebody whose ethnicity was not specific and we wanted somebody who was a spectacular actor. Sir Ben Kingsley was interested and it all fell into place. There are many different incarnations of the Mandarin; he’s sort of pulled from all the comic books to create this very unique and very iconic villain. When you first hear his voice in the trailer, it is unexpected. That came about because we needed Sir Ben to record some dialogue for a Comic-Con piece that we’d done. He said that he had been working on the Mandarin’s voice, so we let him try it. We all didn’t know what to think at first until we started laying it into the picture and said, “My God, it’s brilliant.” It’s fascinating and you can’t out your finger on what it is or where it’s coming from, which is exactly what the Mandarin is in this movie. So having Sir Ben on board is amazing and I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people with his performance.”
Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968. “Iron Man 3” is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures & DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing & Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Stephen Broussard, Victoria Alonso, Alan Fine, Charles Newirth, Stan Lee & Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film hits May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Marvel Studios will also release “Thor: The Dark World ” on November 8, 2013; “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4, 2014; “Guardians of the Galaxy” on August 1, 2014; the sequel to “Marvel's The Avengers” on May 1, 2015; and “Ant-Man” on November 6, 2015!