8 Moments That Made You Hate The Marvel Cinematic Universe

6. The Mandarin Drop - Iron Man 3

This one hurt, didn't it? This one really hurt because it felt personal - like Marvel were willing to compromise the integrity of a great, long-standing character for the sake of a joke. Who the heck over at Marvel H.Q. really thought that this twist would go down well? That the fans would come together in the streets with banners and fireworks and cakes and funny hats in order to proclaim that the Mandarin reveal was "the greatest twist ever?" Chances are that they didn't, but opted for it anyway. But it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth whenever you watch the film, as if the self-awareness and the meta aspects that tends to define the MCU in its current stage had gone too far. There is, admittedly, certain joy to be found in the revelation that Ben Kingsley's villainous Mandarin - Iron Man's arch-nemesis - is actually a stage actor from Croydon, England, but it's fleeting. Once the reveal actually sets in - that Guy Pearce's far less interesting Aldrich Killian is the true Mandarin - it's hard not to feel totally bummed out and annoyed at Marvel for wasting a great and iconic character. Years later, it's still hard not to resent the decision.