Originally Posted by Nathan
Alright, I finally got off my ass and watched the Movie today. So I can join in on the discussion now. What the bloody f**k? Seriously? After all Marvel has been able to pull off, even giving us Asgardian Warriors from another realm, they turned the least outlandish character of them all, into a goddamn actor with drug problems. How can you do this to someone's arch nemesis?
But again, why is Mandarin Tony's arch nemesis? People keep on saying that, but they don't really back it up. Tony and Mandarin's rivalry seems really thin and shallow compared to other major Marvel heroes and villains. Also why is Mandarin a villain in the first place? They often stick Mandarin into the role of generic villain and his personality changes from writer to writer.
Not mention, Mandarin is more of a plot device then a character, he's a archetype that constantly whenever someone new writes him. It seems like Mandarin is only Iron Man's arch nemesis because he appeared more then other villains back in the Silver age. It seems like Justin Hammer, Obadiah Stane and Zeke Stane have managed to hurt Tony more personally then Mandarin has and Mandarin has been given long hiatuses in the comics.
I can see why Mandarin's appealing, he gives Tony an excuse to travel to exotic locations and fight a different type of villain, but Mandarin's lack of consistent characterization makes him ill suited to be Tony's arch nemesis.
So I am kinda torn on this twist, on one hand it might be fun to see Tony fight a different kind of villain in an exotic setting, rather then another jealous billionaire in Miami, on the other hand Mandarin has a lot of baggage (his Yellow peril origins) and doesn't have much in the way of interesting personality to make up for that.