Over at Filmstalker it’s been reported (as rumour, via SlashFilm) that Shaun Toub will be playing the Mandarin in the upcoming Iron Man movie. Although I understand that the film takes place in modern day and that a Vietnam-era Asian wouldn’t work as the villain, it just occured to me that they’ll have to come up with some justification for calling a Middle-Eastern character “The Mandarin.” 
Since the origin story now takes place in Iraq (I’m pretty sure) it makes sense that they would cast someone from that part of the world in an updated version of Iron Man’s classic nemesis. I saw Toub in Crash and really enjoyed his performance. This is still not verified news, but here we have yet another excellent actor added to the mix.
My hopes for some films have been dashed so many times that I’m really afraid to get them too high for this film, but so far everything points to this baby firing on all cylinders. Dare I hope that the movie version of my all-time favorite comic book superhero will be one of the best superhero movies yet?
What do you think? Will this be a Cannonball Run mess or will Jon Favreau pull off a kick-ass ensemble cast film?
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