The Making Of The MCU: 17 Fascinating Behind-The-Scenes Details You Need To Know

11. ...And The Mandarin Was The Original Villain Of Iron Man

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Another 'What If' villain scenario revolves around the original Iron Man movie, which - up until a few weeks before shooting - was set to feature the Mandarin, not Obadiah Stane, as its main bad guy.

According to producer Jeremy Latcham, this interpretation of the Mandarin would've been a rival to Tony Stark in the weapons tech space, desperate to get his hands on Tony's inventions for himself.

He would've even had a building right next to Stark Industries, and his plan would've involved drilling a hole underneath Stark's headquarters, allowing him to enter the building and steal the goodies held within.

When it was decided that the Mandarin wasn't working, Stane was promoted to lead antagonist. A version of the Mandarin, of course, then appeared in Iron Man 3, but it wasn't until 2021's Shang-Chi that we got to see the real Mandarin in all his glory.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.