The Mandarin is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the archenemy of Iron Man. The character was created by Stan Lee and designed by Don Heck, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #50 (Feb. 1964). The character is described as being born in China before the Communist revolution to a wealthy Chinese father and an English aristocratic mother, both of whom died when he was young. He is characterized as a megalomaniac, attempting to conquer the world on several occasions, yet also possessing a strong sense of honor. The Mandarin is portrayed as a genius scientist and a skilled martial artist. However, his primary sources of power are 10 rings that he adapted from the alien technology of a crashed space ship. Each ring has a different power and is worn on a specific finger. Though his primary obsession is Iron Man, given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Thor, Hulk, Shang-Chi and other superheroes in the Marvel Universe.
The Mandarin has appeared in several forms of media. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley portrayed an imposter and actor of the character in Iron Man 3 (2013) respectively, and Tony Leung portrayed the "real" character Xu Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). In 2009, The Mandarin was ranked as IGN's 81st-greatest comic book villain of all time.
Publication history
The Mandarin first appeared in Tales of Suspense #50 (Feb. 1964), written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Don Heck.
When discussing the character's creation, Heck stated "That was Stan Lee's character, really. He wanted him because he was thinking of, oh, one of those old stories that they had years ago Fu Manchu and that's what he said to me. He said, 'I want a character like Fu Manchu.'"
Fictional character biography
Origins
The Mandarin's late father was one of the wealthiest men in pre-revolutionary mainland China (and a descendant of Genghis Khan), while his late mother was an English noblewoman. Their son was born in an unnamed village in mainland China before the Communist revolution. The boy's parents died soon after his birth, and he was raised by his (paternal) aunt, who was embittered against the world and raised him with much the same attitude. Every last bit of the family fortune was spent obsessively training the Mandarin in science and combat, with the result that he was penniless by adulthood. Without the wealth to pay the taxes on his ancestral home, the Mandarin was evicted by the government.
Hoping to find a means of avenging himself upon the civilization that had taxed him and rendered him homeless, the Mandarin explores the forbidden Valley of Spirits, where no one has dared to set foot for centuries. There he finds the starship and skeleton of Axonn-Karr, an intelligent dragon-like alien from the planet Maklu IV, who had come to Earth centuries ago and died. Over the following years, the Mandarin studies Makluan science until he masters it. He also learns how to use the 10 rings that he found within the starship, which are apparently its propulsion source, among other things. The Mandarin then becomes a conqueror, and subjugates the villages around the Valley, and through his advanced science, rapidly becomes a power that not even the Chinese army can successfully challenge. He then embarks on a long series of attempts to achieve world domination. The Chinese, though fearing him, ask for his help, but he will not become subservient to them.
The Mandarin sees technology as the surest means to achieve his goals. Over the years, he frequently attempts to turn the weapons and computers of various nations against them. Among the Mandarin's earliest schemes is the sabotage and theft of American missiles and spy planes built by Tony Stark. To restore public confidence in his workmanship, Stark dons his Iron Man armor and flies to China to investigate. Iron Man soon became the Mandarin's principal obstacle against his plans for world domination. He often attempts to pit Iron Man against the Chinese government to defeat both.