Question for Marvel fans: MCU & Agent Carter

steamwright

SPOILERS AHEAD

A question for you Marvel fans regarding the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The last two episodes of Agent Carter have showcased a Russian-accented "doctor" who seems to control people's minds by use of a ring on his left ring finger. Is this the Mento-Intensifier ring of the Ten Rings, aka Mandarin's rings? That one was supposedly worn by the Mandarin on his left ring finger. If so, this brings MCU to a whole new level of cool, and especially sets the stage, along with the Marvel One Shot regarding the phony Mandarin, for the real Mandarin coming to the MCU, probably against Stark.

revandarklighter

Given the fact that there won't be an iron man 4 (at least not before about 2020) I wouldn't keep my hopes up for a real mandarin battle.

rooster707

Huh... That would be awesome. I had totally forgotten about the Mandarin, but he's a cool villain.

jonsills

I don't think the ring is anything but a trick to catch the subject's attention. Seems to be comic-book-style hypnosis (which Dooley manages to very nearly break, just before Ivchenko's absconding with Item 17).

After all, as I recall, in order for the Mento-Intensifier to work, there had to be at least some level of psychic ability to intensify - and if Dr. Ivchenko had displayed anything like that in Stalin's USSR, he'd never have been unobserved long enough for this whole "Leviathan" connection to even come into play, much less have come into possession of one of the Mandarin's rings.

hevach

Robert Downy Junior's got 3 more movies left in his current contract: Avengers 2, Cap 3, and Avengers 3 (since they split that into two movies, it's not clear if his contract covers both or not). No more solo movies, and the closest any of his villains get to the spotlight is that they seem to have made Ultron and Vision his creations instead of Hank Pym's.

The whole point of those big multi-movie contracts is to lock actors in while they're cheap to keep payroll from bloating out of control for Avengers movies. Marvel's made him a lot more expensive than he was when he started with them, as they have for all their lead actors. And that's the whole point of the new team being phased in for phase 3 - Iron Man, Cap, and Thor are probably all on their way out of the MCU.

Short version: If we see a "real" mandarin, he either:
A. won't be fighting Iron Man
B. won't be until phase 4+ and fighting a recast Iron Man (or maybe Vision or War Machine promoted to his job, who knows where they'll go with exiting main characters)
or
C. will be a mook stuffed into Civil War or Infinity War and not a top billed villain

steamwright

jonsills wrote: »

I don't think the ring is anything but a trick to catch the subject's attention. Seems to be comic-book-style hypnosis (which Dooley manages to very nearly break, just before Ivchenko's absconding with Item 17).

After all, as I recall, in order for the Mento-Intensifier to work, there had to be at least some level of psychic ability to intensify - and if Dr. Ivchenko had displayed anything like that in Stalin's USSR, he'd never have been unobserved long enough for this whole "Leviathan" connection to even come into play, much less have come into possession of one of the Mandarin's rings.

You raise a good point, and I don't have an immediate answer to that, except to say that not everything in the MCU is a perfect parallel. A bit of a cop-out, I know. We do know an organization called the Ten Rings exists (Iron Man I), at least in the MCU's present. Some had theorized that the leader there was carrying one of the rings, though it was never clearly presented as such.

steamwright

hevach wrote: »

Short version: If we see a "real" mandarin, he either:
A. won't be fighting Iron Man
B. won't be until phase 4+ and fighting a recast Iron Man (or maybe Vision or War Machine promoted to his job, who knows where they'll go with exiting main characters)
or
C. will be a mook stuffed into Civil War or Infinity War and not a top billed villain

I'm of the understanding that Marvel had stated they have a plan through 2028. So phase 4 (maybe even 5) is not beyond possibility. I also find it reasonable to suggest a parallel development to how they're developing the Infinity Gauntlet: one piece introduced at a time. It is my understanding that Mandarin sometimes loans one of his rings to lieutenants: perfect for displaying a ring at a time without showing the boss at the center of it all.

Whether Mandarin ever appears in MCU formally or not, would it not be possible to display the rings, such as possibly this one, anyway?

ddesjardins

I wouldn't be surprised if the Mandarin is introduced at some point in the future. Keep in mind Agent carter is finished filming, and is for all intensive purposes a limited series.

There has been nothing publically said that it will be picked up as a second 'miniseries'.

IF you watched the Agent Carter minisode on the Iron Man DVD - you already know how the TV series will end - with her being asked to run the newly created SHIELD by Howard.

revandarklighter

hevach wrote: »

Robert Downy Junior's got 3 more movies left in his current contract: Avengers 2, Cap 3, and Avengers 3 (since they split that into two movies, it's not clear if his contract covers both or not). No more solo movies, and the closest any of his villains get to the spotlight is that they seem to have made Ultron and Vision his creations instead of Hank Pym's.

The whole point of those big multi-movie contracts is to lock actors in while they're cheap to keep payroll from bloating out of control for Avengers movies. Marvel's made him a lot more expensive than he was when he started with them, as they have for all their lead actors. And that's the whole point of the new team being phased in for phase 3 - Iron Man, Cap, and Thor are probably all on their way out of the MCU.

Short version: If we see a "real" mandarin, he either:
A. won't be fighting Iron Man
B. won't be until phase 4+ and fighting a recast Iron Man (or maybe Vision or War Machine promoted to his job, who knows where they'll go with exiting main characters)
or
C. will be a mook stuffed into Civil War or Infinity War and not a top billed villain

There is no physical law the keeps rdj from extending his contract after avengers 3.2.... He's is actually quiete favored to his role.
But we have a shooting schedule until 2020... So nothing will happen before that. And something tells me that the mcu will have lost a lot of his current gravity until then.