10 Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters We Wouldn't Mind Being Recast

9. James Hong As THE REAL Mandarin

Originally thinking that Ben Kingsley was a very odd choice for Mandarin, and happy (partially) that his character was a fluke to convince the world of a terrorist threat; the character wasn't done much justice. Granted, the mentality here was to use the existing terrorist threat from the Middle East; following suit from the original Iron Man movie that used the Middle East as a focal point (instead of Vietnam). However, the title "Mandarin", wasn't a proper fit for the story line changes made in Iron Man 3; it just didn't fit, creative license aside.

If James Hong has any idea who the Mandarin is, as a comic book character, he must have been somewhere spouting expletives in his native language when he learned Kingsley was cast for the role. Perhaps it's because Hong has played, Lo Pan, a character that was so close in appearance to Mandarin that Marvel wanted to stay away from the prolific actor; even with a comedic use of rings in the final battle at the end of the film.

Either way, James Hong would be a much better fit for the comic-accurate Mandarin; even if the story line in Iron Man 3 remained relatively the same, with a Fake Mandarin. Fans would cheer at the uncanny appearance (and likely) near perfect adaptation of the character as a whole, regardless of origins or powers, that Hong could have delivered.