Mandarin (character)
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The Mandarin is one of the main antagonists of the Marvel Comics universe, serving as the main antagonist of the Iron Man franchise and media, and a major antagonist in the Avengers franchise. The character was created by Stan Lee and designed by Don Heck, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #50 (Feb. 1964).
Formerly a poor vagrant and criminal raised in poverty, he would eventually come across ten mystical rings (later revealed to be technology from the Makluan race) and take their power as his own. With his new abilities, he would reinvent himself as an aristocratic criminal mastermind seeking to expand his empire and conquer the world. He is notable for his role in Tony Stark/Iron Man's creation, having orchestrated the kidnapping that would lead to him creating his first set of armor, and for causing multiple other pivotal moments in the hero's life.
He serves as the main antagonist of Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin, the Dragon Seed Saga, Iron Man: The Future, and several other storylines. He is the archenemy of Iron Man, and an enemy of several other heroes, including War Machine, the Hulk, Captain America, Deadpool, Black Panther, Shang-Chi, and the Avengers.
Adaptations
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.