The Marvel Villain Who Started As A Joke But Became An Essential Character

Shane Black's 2013 superhero comedy film "Iron Man 3" is handily one of the best films to come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Released a full year after Joss Whedon's ultra-hit "The Avengers," the world was, by then, properly hooked on the MCU. The multi-character crossover film seemed like a gigantic risk at the time, but it proved to be one of the most successful formulae of the decade. The MCU stood astride the 2010s like a mighty colossus. "Iron Man 3" was going to be the first test to see if the MCU could see its characters star in solo adventures again. 

Luckily, "Iron Man 3" proved they could, with Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) wrestling with war trauma and facing a scary new terrorist in the form of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). The Mandarin would appear on news broadcasts and claim responsibility for worldwide bombings. This depiction of the Mandarin as a terrorist was a welcome spin on the original character, initially presented in 1960s Marvel Comics as a racist "yellow scare" caricature.

Eventually, Iron Man tracked down the Mandarin, only to find he wasn't who he claimed to be. The man on the TV screens was merely a British actor named Trevor Slattery, hired by the film's true villain to play the Mandarin for TV broadcasts. "The Mandarin" wasn't real. Trevor, instead, was a plummy, shallow (and hilarious) drug addict. This was a clever and unexpected twist that made "Iron Man 3" kind of brilliant. 

But the "joke" character of Trevor Slattery didn't vanish after "Iron Man 3." Indeed, he had a key role in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," and was most recently in the Marvel TV series "Wonder Man." Trevor, meanwhile, has grown as a character.

It should be noted that there was something of a fan outcry about the Trevor Slattery twist on the Mandarin. Some Marvel Comics purists felt that the Mandarin was a classic Marvel villain and should have been retained as a threatening, scary presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In reducing him to a gag, many fanboys began to complain that "Iron Man 3" didn't do the character justice. I would argue that the Mandarin isn't so important or well-known a character as to be owed any purity or justice. No, the Trevory Slattery twist was clever. 

But the head honchos at the MCU decided to salvage the character anyway ... kind of. In 2021's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Seven Rings," filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton introduced a character named Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung) a dangerous and long-lived criminal who oversaw a vast criminal underworld, and had gained the nickname "the Mandarin" in some circles. 

Trevor Slattery, then, was impersonating a real Chinese gangster. Trevor appeared in "Shang-Chi" after having been thrown in prison by Wenwu for impersonation. It seems that the makers of the MCU wanted to cater to the people who complained about the Mandarin's treatment in "Iron Man 3." It seems there was a "real" Mandarin out there, and he was a villainous badass after all. And, to add a little sugar to the pot, Trevor was punished for having the audacity of mucking with Marvel canon.

But Trevor got to redeem himself as well. Later in the film, Trevor provided vital information to the title hero (Simu Liu), telling him how to enter a mystically protected fantasy kingdom. He also provided "Shang-Chi" with light, comedic humanity. He was still a great character.

In the new TV series "Wonder Man," Trevor Slattery is further redeemed and proves he has a moral compass. Trevor finds that he misses acting and wishes to return to Hollywood to get back in the business. He is apprehended, of course — he's still a wanted criminal over the whole Mandarin debacle — but he strikes a deal with the authorities. Trevor will be allowed to stay out of prison if he secretly becomes the acting mentor to an aspiring actor named Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a character the FBI suspects is hiding a raft of superpowers. 

Simon and Trevor, however, become fast friends as they struggle for fame in Hollywood. Both actors are auditioning for an in-universe movie called "Wonder Man," which makes Simon nervous because superpowered beings aren't allowed to be actors in the MCU. When Simon's superpowers are revealed in a spectacular (and destructive) fashion, Trevor does the most helpful thing an actorly friend can do, and claims credit for the destruction ... as the Mandarin. 

So really, "the Mandarin" became a helpful role that Trevor could play should a real-life situation call for it. When we first saw him, he was addicted to drugs and didn't really pay attention to the world. By the events of "Wonder Man," Trevor had not only proven that he was a great actor and a great friend, but that he was willing to make sacrifices in order to do the right thing. Heck, Trevor displays more nobility in "Wonder Man" than some of the blustering, fight-hungry "heroes" found elsewhere in the MCU.