—Aldrich Killian[source]The second you give evil a face, a Bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target.
History
Trevor Slattery grew up in Liverpool, England. He was extremely close to his mother, who regularly took Trevor to the theater to fuel his dream to become a world-renowned stage actor,[2] with Trevor's love for acting having sparked as a child when he watched the film Planet of the Apes.[3] Trevor would earn his first, albeit minor, role at a stage play for William Shakespeare's The Tempest at the Royal Court Theatre. By the 1980s, Trevor had moved to the United States of America to pursue his dream. His biggest claim to fame was the lead role in a pilot for the CBS network called Caged Heat, in which Trevor portrayed a Russian cop living in America. The shooting caused Trevor to miss his mother's funeral, and the network passed on the pilot. After this, Trevor began to blame his lot in life on a series of unfortunate events rather than taking any responsibility himself.[2]
Hitting rock bottom, Trevor lived on the streets, struggling to earn money to feed a drug habit. He was approached by industrialist Aldrich Killian and his think tank A.I.M., who offered the disgraced actor a lavish accommodation in Miami and an endless supply of drugs, alcohol and prostitutes in exchange for his skills.[1] Under the assumption that he was accepting a regular acting job and that Killian was simply a producer, Trevor accepted the gig. Trevor's job was to portray "the Mandarin", a fictional terrorist loosely based on Wenwu, the secretive leader of the worldwide criminal empire called the Ten Rings.[3]

As the Mandarin
In a series of staged videos released to the public, the Mandarin took responsibility for a string of accidental explosions in American soil that were derived from A.I.M.'s experiments with the serum Extremis on military veterans. The mass panic and the government's response to this new fabricated threat worked as a venue for Killian to earn military contracts. The Mandarin's videos were addressed to the President of the United States, Matthew Ellis, since Killian had brought Vice President Rodriguez into his plot and his endgame was to kill Ellis so Rodriguez would assume office, gaining control of both sides of the War on Terror. In one of the videos, the Mandarin claimed responsibility for an Extremis-derived explosion at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. In another video which was broadcast live, he threatened to kill Roxxon Oil Company accountant Thomas Richards if President Ellis didn't call him within thirty seconds, with his phone having been hacked to provide him with the means to do so. Although Ellis complied, the Mandarin ignored the call and shot at Richards with a blank, pretending to kill him.
Tony Stark, the billionaire and superhero known as Iron Man, became involved in investigating the Mandarin in part due to one of the victims of the Chinese Theatre's explosion having been his friend Happy Hogan. Stark was almost killed when his mansion was bombarded by A.I.M. forces on behalf of the Mandarin after Stark had made a public declaration against the terrorist. Stark managed to pin down the origin of the Mandarin's transmissions to Slattery's mansion in Miami and infiltrated its grounds. When pressed for information, Trevor explained his role in Killian's plot and that the Mandarin was a fabrication. Stark was subsequently captured by Killian, and Trevor returned to his regular idling. When he escaped and met up with Jim Rhodes, Tony introduced him to Trevor. Slattery divulged what little information he knew of Killian's plan, that he planned to assassinate the President at the impounded oil tanker Norco, and was forced to provide the duo with a speedboat in his possession so that they could travel there. Killian's plan was foiled and he was killed. Afterward, Trevor was apprehended by the authorities.[1]

Confronted by Tony Stark
Trevor was imprisoned at Seagate Prison,[2] where he detoxified and rediscovered his passion for acting.[3] Trevor also earned a considerable reputation due to his renown for his role as the Mandarin, and built a posse that included Herman and Fletcher Heggs.[2] For several days, Trevor was interviewed by Jackson Norriss, a Ten Rings agent posing as a documentary filmmaker. In their final session, Norriss abducted Trevor, revealing to him that his Mandarin persona had been modelled after the Ten Ring's true leader, who intended to make him pay.[2] Slattery was taken to the Ten Rings Compound where he was going to be killed for his impersonation of Wenwu. Moments before his execution, Trevor launched into a performance of Macbeth, which impressed his captors. Trevor's execution was halted, he was imprisoned in the compound's dungeons and made to perform for the organization every week, akin to a jester.

Sometime during his imprisonment, Trevor met Morris, a Dijiang who hailed from the extra-dimensional land of Ta Lo. Trevor learned to communicate with Morris, although he believed the creature to be a figment of his imagination. When Wenwu's children Shang-Chi and Xialing, and Shang-Chi's friend Katy were imprisoned by the Ten Rings, they encountered Trevor. Morris appeared shortly after, and Trevor was rejoiced to discover that he wasn't hallucination since his visitors could see him. Acting as an interpreter for the creature, Trevor explained that Morris could help them reach Ta Lo, since the trio wanted to find it before Wenwu. Trevor and Morris joined Shang-Chi, Xialing, Katy in escaping the compound using Razor Fist's car. Once they reached a moving forest maze that protected Ta Lo, Trevor acted as an interpreter to Morris' instructions on how to traverse the maze to enter the hidden city.
Shang-Chi and his allies were welcomed into Ta Lo, and Trevor mingled with the kids. The city was subsequently invaded by the Ten Rings, but they joined forces with the locals when Wenwu unwittingly unleashed the Dweller-in-Darkness. In order to prevent the monster's soul-sucking minions from taking his soul, Trevor laid low and played dead, and instructed Morris to do the same. In the aftermath of the destruction of the Dweller-in-Darkness at the hands of Shang-Chi, Trevor participated in the ceremony to mourn the casualties of the battle.[3]Attributes
Abilities
Additional Attributes
- Alcoholism
- Drug addiction
- Induced narcolepsy
Notes
- Ben Kingsley portrays Trevor Slattery in the films Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and in the short film Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King. Kingsley will reprise the role in the miniseries Wonder Man.
- To avoid the character's negative association with Chinese stereotypes, the Mandarin was called "Man Daren" in the Chinese version of the film.[4]
Trivia
- The ring on Slattery's right pinkie is the same one that Raza wears in Iron Man.
- Trevor bears a tattoo on the back of his neck of Captain America's shield with an anarchist "A" symbol in the center instead of a star.

Trevor's Captain Anarchy tattoo
- Early animatics of Iron Man 3 revealed that it was planned for Trevor to die in the movie's climax. Under the influences of other drugs, he would inject himself with a dose of Extremis and accidentally explode.[5]
- Trevor, along with his acting ability, is referenced in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes with the Trophy "The Toast of Croydon" for naming a custom character after his first name.
- In-universe, two television films titled 10 Rings to Rule Them All: The Trevor Slattery Story and Man of Mandarin: The Trevor Slattery Story exist.[6]
See Also
- 5 appearance(s) of Trevor Slattery (Earth-199999)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Trevor Slattery (Earth-199999)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Trevor Slattery (Earth-199999)
- 2 mention(s) of Trevor Slattery (Earth-199999)
- 23 image(s) of Trevor Slattery (Earth-199999)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Iron Man 3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- ↑ Shanghai Newsroom (30 April 2013) 'Iron Man' shows Hollywood's bent to take on China censors' steely grip. Retrieved on 2 May 2013.
- ↑ Iron Man 3: See the Original Fate of The Mandarin IGN. Retrieved on 14 September 2021.
- ↑ WHIH Newsfront Exclusive: President Ellis Discusses the Avengers WHiH World News. Retrieved on 8 May 2016.