4. The Mandarin Is The Threat of All Threats
Every hero has their antithesis, their polar opposite, that one villain that stands against everything the hero stands for and will put as much effort into destroying what the hero protects as they do protecting it. It is this hero that's usually the "Final Boss" to our protagonist's journey. The Mandarin is such a villain, and over the course of two films he's used The Ten Rings cell to inflict massive blows against Tony Stark. Obadiah Stane and Ivan Vanko (aka Whiplash) were both benefactors of The Ten Rings, as they were hired to do what The Mandarin will ultimately have to attempt himself...kill Tony Stark. When you've got a cell as powerful and wide reaching as The Mandarin, you naturally will hire other people to do the killing and mayhem for you. You're the head of a terrorist cell, you don't have time for the small stuff. It's when your underlings constantly fail you, and you just don't see the job getting itself done, that you decide to take it upon yourself to finish things off. Well, now's that time, and The Mandarin's gambit seems to be the final move in the game between him and Stark Enterprises. While the fight should promise to be a fun one, it also seems like it should be the final battle.