7 Times Fan Reaction Actually Changed Movies
4. Iron Man 3 - There Is A Real Mandarin
The Initial Idea: The traditional version of the Mandarin was going to be a ruse played by actor Trevor Slattery, whereas the real version of his character was meant to be embodied through Aldrich Killian.
The Fan Reaction: On paper, this was a pretty inventive way to tackle this long-standing character. In practice, fans went ballistic. Iron Man 3 was still a pretty good movie but many will hold this singular plot twist up as a reason to dismiss it.
Marvel and screenwriter Drew Pearce took these criticisms to heart with the one-shot All Hail The King. The short depicted Trevor Slattery’s life in Seagate Prison after being outed as ‘The Mandarin.’ He’s interviewed there by a man who eventually reveals that he works for the Ten Rings and the REAL Mandarin.
Going forward, they could simply claim that Slattery’s appearance was based on a real terrorist that Killian knew about. Kingsley himself has suggested that maybe Trevor Slattery was all an act and his character really is a terrorist. Either way, this isn’t going to change fans’ minds about the initial twist but it could be a crucial step towards introducing a more classic version of the character in the future.