Lot’s of big news coming out of Comic-Con… none of which I got to see/learn firsthand because I don’t get to go. Harumph.
Anyway, first up: “Iron Man 3” had a panel… immediately preceded by a suprise visit from Edgar Wright, who revealed that his long in-development “Ant Man” movie is moving forward, has a logo and showed off test-footage of the size-changing effects. Good news.
The “IM3” footage, allegedly, contains the “big reveal” that Ben Kinglsey’s previously-unnamed villain whom everyone assumed was The Mandarin is, in fact, The Mandarin – or, at least, he has The Mandarin’s beard, Ten Rings and “oriental” trappings. Publicity-snaps via Comicbookmovie.com also revealed what seems to be Iron Man’s new armor for this one, which is mostly yellow:
I feel like a lot of people aren’t going to like this look, but I dig it. If nothing else, a guy running around in a suit of bright yellow armor versus another guy with “patriotic” armor and a bad guy with “magic” rings helps confirm that the Marvel Movies seem to be aiming at getting even bigger and more “comic-book” after “Avengers;” rather than regressing.
Plot-wise, one assumes the new look has something to do with the Extremis story being used in the movie.
Incidentally, the other sequels have revealed their subtitles: “Thor: The Dark World” (no idea) and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (holy shit.)
“Guardians of The Galaxy” was also confirmed with concept-art and team-lineup revealed, more on that in a bit…
MOVIEBOB CENTRAL 
My friend was there and texted me the titles when they popped up and I lost my shit. I'm not even ashamed because BUCKY.
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Commencing nerdgasm in 3…2…1…
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Thoughts:
1. I assume the Thor sequel will give us the introduction to Thanos, since Alexis Denisof did threaten to go after Loki if they didn't get the Cube. Also the audience might now sort of come to expect the Thor subfranchise to provide the overarching villains, which is convenient since that was the one that deals most strongly with interdimensional travel.
2. I KNEW they weren't going to get rid of Bucky that unceremoniously. I wonder if the big psychological-warfare moment of the sequel is the revelation that Bucky was Cap's shadowy-wetwork guy (imagine how it would hurt Cap to find out that his handlers not only exploited his image, but also maintained it with blood let by who he thought was his friend and confidante). No way is Red Skull gone, either.
3. Edgar Wright directing Ant-Man. I love you too, Marvel/Disney.
4. Any updates on what the Hulk is doing between now and Avengers 2?
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They DO realize that Ben Kingsley doesn't have an ounce of Chinese in him…RIGHT? This is just WEIRD casting. They seriously couldn't just cast an Asian actor?
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@Aiddon,
FWIW, I think they're intentionally avoiding making him explicitly Chinese/Asian to A.) avoid the fact that the character is borderline “yellow peril” racist and B.) comply with Chinese coproduction “discouragements” against giving financial-help to Western productions where Chinese characters are bad guys.
Also, Ben Kingsley is half-Indian, and thus far all of the Mandarin-related guys we've seen in this series have been of undefined Middle Eastern background, so theres also that.
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Its not confirmed that Kingsly is the Mandarin right? And Mandarin who is descendant of Genghis Khan whos Empire stretched from China to Russia about Europe. And a lot of Japanese and Chines beliefs stem from Buddhism which is Indian.
The Ten Rings could be a former territory controlled by Khan who now has ancestry in Ben Kingsly's character.
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I really wish the Iron Man armor suits would look more distinct from each other. Save for the suitcase thing, they've all looked basically the same.
Get ballsier Marvel. Give me Hulkbuster or give me death!
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I don't know, something about the shade of yellow they chose feels off. It looks like someone has been rubbing butter all over the armor. Could just be the lighting.
Good to hear the Mandarin's finally here, with or without the name. Hopefully he won't forget to bring Fin Fang Foom along and HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE, DID YOU SAY WINTER SOLDIER!?
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About villains and Asian actors:
Isn't that Cary Tagawa's acting hat? Racist Yellow Peril cheese or no, Tagawa's already better at being a villain than Ben Kingsley.
Consider the two actors' video game movies, then come back to me.
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Why would Tony Stark pick a sickly yellow that looks more like undercoating than the finished paint job for his flashy robot suit? It looks terrible.
I have no idea who Ant-Man is (sounds like the lamest superhero title ever, if you ask me) but Edgar Wright is ALWAYS a good sign.
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@LeVar
10 Rings dude. That's about all the confirmation we are going to need. But it says that Shane Black confirmed that he is the Mandarin right here:
http://io9.com/5926049/the-marvel-panel-ant+man-smackdown-iron-mans-downfall-and-rocket-raccoon
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I love the idea of having a suit that harkens back to his old, all golden suit, but the color palette on this feels to uneven to me. But I will have to see it in motion before I can make a final decision. And even if I don't end up liking it, he's gonna have a new suit in the next movie, so whatever man.
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1. maybe the thor subtitle means we'll get hela? maybe sertr? just some speculation off the dark in the title
2. Winter soldier! Yes!
3. not a big fan of this iron-man armor, it feels too much like they just inverted the colors. I'd much rather just see him get extremis powers and then give him his extremis suit or have his current suit linked to those abilities
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I like this suit, it's like a transparent/skeleton look.
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The lighting doesn't do the new armor justice. It is more of a tan/beige color. They did an action figure similar to this called DESERT ARMOR or something.
It is incredibly similar to everything else though. They really could have been a bit more daring than this. I almost didn't know it was a different armor till I got within 20 feet of it.
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This'll be interesting. On one hand, I'm glad that the Mandarin (or a reasonable facsimile) will finally be in an Iron Man movie. IMHO, they should have had him in there, if not in the first, then definitely the second, and had MODOK for the third instead.
However, considering Kingsley is an occidental actor (though granted, he has Indian heritage, he's still British), I wonder if we'll get the same accusations of “white-washing” that plagued The Last Airbender?
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Hopefully that suit will be used only for one scene, like the suit-case suit in IM2
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I had heard that the Thor sequel would have Surt and/or Malekith. Perhaps “Dark World” refers to Muspelheim or Svartalheim?
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I don't mind this costume's color scheme.
Besides, things tend to look a LOT different on film/in action than they do in stills taken as convention booths.
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http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/16/anthony-mackie-cast-as-falcon-in-captain-america-2
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i hope in cap 2 they keep the winter soldier's identity 'secret'. As in they don't say who it is in the trailers/promos. It would be a great reveal moment for people who just follow the films, creating a better in-theatre atmosphere.
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I never got the impression The Mandarin was supposed to be “pure” Han Chinese (which isn't even remotely a monolithic culture) in the first place. He claims descent from Mongolians, and wasn't his mother an Englishwoman?
But I'm glad Mandarin's confirmed. Yellow Peril origins aside, I love the over-the-top, scenery-chewing, Bond-style mastermind supervillains, and I put Mandarin up there with Doctor Doom, R'as al-Ghul and Cobra Commander.
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