Did Shane Black And Ben Kingsley Change The Mandarin's Voice In 'Iron Man 3?'
Here's a curious revelation. The fine folks at Movieline noticed that, in a new TV spot for Shane Black's Iron Man 3, Ben Kingsley's voice as the Mandarin sounds radically different than it did in the latest theatrical trailer. It's a much more straightforward delivery, with less affectation in the reading. Surely it's impossible to judge a movie from its trailers or TV spots, which are all edited months before the final product reaches theaters, but the change mid-marketing is curious. Listen below and let us know what you think.
Thanks to Movieline for pointing this out.
Here's the theatrical trailer. The line in question, "You'll never see me coming" is at about 47 seconds.
And here's the new TV spot with the same line, at 18 seconds.
Now, it's also possible this is a bit of a catchphrase for the Mandarin that he delivers more than once. If not, though, the line is delivered totally different. (From Russ: I've also wondered if the original line delivery was heavily edited for this spot, or if a different take was used merely for pacing in this edit.)
Do you think they changed the voice to make it sound less hokey? Which do you prefer?