10 Worst Moments In The Marvel Cinematic Universe

No, the reveal that The Mandarin is actually just an actor from Croydon hired as a front to distract from the real villain isn't the problem with Iron Man 3. It was a fun and totally unexpected reveal that solved a potential adaptation problem by turning it on its head; and hey, if you still didn't like it, they fixed and clarified it in a one-shot short. However, what doesn't work about it is who is ultimately behind this entire scheme: Guy Pearce's Aldrich Killian.

First off, Pearce's initial portrayal of Killian as a dweeby disabled scientist borders on going into the territory of Jim Carrey's Riddler or Jamie Foxx's Electro. His performance lacks any kind of threat, and he's ultimately motivated to take down Tony Stark because he skipped out on a meeting with him. When Killian shows back up years later, he then basically becomes Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer from Iron Man 2, but with the sense of humour replaced with dragon tattoos and fire breath.

So the problem isn't that The Mandarin isn't the villain. The problem is that the real villain isn't particularly memorable. He's got some cool potential but the film doesn't seem that interested in exploring him. Like most Marvel villains, he's a means to an end; someone to facilitate the hero's journey rather than be an interesting character in and of himself.

The fact that Pepper Potts is the one that ultimately defeats him and not Tony doesn't exactly speak much to his threat either.