Marvel has done an outstanding job with their cinematic universe, but their handling of The Mandarin in IRON MAN 3 definitely bothered some fans. I'll get into those details in a bit (consider this your spoiler warning), but first we need to talk about Sir Ben Kingsley's recent comments to the Belfast Telegraph about working on a secret project for Marvel.
"It's a secret Marvel project. I'm not allowed to say any more, you're going to have to wait and see."
Marvel producer Kevin Feige also said he couldn't say anything either (kind of surprising considering how much we've heard from him lately), but Feige admitting he can't say anything means this isn't just a rumor or speculation that Kingsley will work with Marvel again soon.
But what is the project? Will his Trevor Slattery character return and if so, why? One guess I have is Marvel might turn his character into how The Mandarin was actually portrayed in the comics, and not the bait-and-switch Guy Pearce version we got in IRON MAN 3. Perhaps Trevor Slattery comes across an alien ship and finds the ten cosmic rings? Maybe I'm thinking too big and Ben Kingsley will only be in a one-shot or something similar, but Marvel has some giant plans for their characters in film and television, and at this point anything is possible.