Iron Man 3 Mandarin Actor Ben Kingsley Attends Shang-Chi Premiere

Iron Man 3 actor, Sir Ben Kingsley, has officially been spotted on the red carpet for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. A long-awaited installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film is the second big-screen entry into Phase 4 following the debut of Black Widow. It will see actor Simu Liu step into the titular role when the film debuts next month.

The Ten Rings have been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe longer than most of the actors in the franchise. Debuting in 2008’s Iron Man as a terrorist organization responsible for kidnapping Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), the group would eventually return in Iron Man 3 under the leadership of Ben Kingsley’s “The Mandarin.” However, Kingsley’s version of The Mandarin ended up being a fakeout orchestrated by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), with Kingsley portraying a bumbling, disgraced theater actor named Trevor Slattery.

Tonight, with Shang-Chi about on the precipice of his formal entrance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, another familiar face has arrived at the premiere for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Specifically, Sir Ben Kingsley has officially arrived on the red carpet, and the official Shang-Chi Twitter account caught his arrival. Check out the image below:

What makes Ben Kingsley’s arrival at the red carpet for Shang-Chi so intriguing is his own connection to The Mandarin character. Though his take on the villain proved to be a fakeout in Iron Man 3, Kingsley would later appear in a Marvel One-Shot called All Hail the King, which teased the arrival of the real Mandarin. Now, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is poised to pay off that plot thread almost a decade later by bringing audiences the real Mandarin who they never got to see.

The arrival of Sir Ben Kingsley at the premiere of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings obviously raises some questions about whether he has a presence in the film as the MCU transitions from the fake Mandarin to the real Mandarin. That said, these premieres often send out invitations to plenty of Hollywood A-listers who aren’t in the debuting movie, so Kingsley could very well be there simply to make an appearance and support the project. No matter what happens, the moviegoing populace will get to see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings when the film premieres on September 3.

Source: Shang-Chi