5. The Real Mandarin - Iron Man 3
It's been talked to death, but yes, the arbitrary complaint of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Shane Black and Drew Pearce's bizarre treatment of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3. The first half of the film builds up Ben Kingsley as playing a terrifying, mysterious specter who destroys Tony's home and is, without question, his most fierce foe to date. However, when Tony gears up his improvised Iron Man suit to confront The Mandarin, he discovers that Kingsley's character is, in fact, an actor called Trevor Slattery, employed by the "real" Mandarin, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), to give his crusade a name and face. It was a brave, audacious twist, one that has proven to be easily the most divisive of any movie this year. It goes without saying that comic book fans were not pleased, and what they wanted to see - the traditional Mandarin character, complete with the powers of The Ten Rings - did not come to fruition. Instead, they felt like they were being slapped in the face, and really, I can't blame them. These characters are like gospel to comic book fans, and to intentionally misappropriate them seems somewhat disingenuous.