Entertainment

Thumping Iron

The Mandarin — a villain so terrifying he has the power to scare not only audiences but Teamsters, too.

Or so the story goes. “Iron Man 3” producer Kevin Feige claims that Ben Kingsley, who plays the bearded, hooded terrorist, so inhabited the character that the crew was actually frightened of him.

“I have not the faintest idea what effect I’m having on the crew,” Kingsley tells The Post. “I stay in a bubble and just do my job as an actor on set.”

And then he pauses before adding slyly, “But that’s a nice story, isn’t it?”

Whether it’s true or not, it is a nice story. And it’s probably appropriate that Kingsley’s performance would have such towering mythology attached to it. The Mandarin is a character shrouded in mystery and powered by rumor and illusion.

He’s is a terrorist leader who, through much of “Iron Man 3,” is seen only in shadow, addressing America in grainy TV broadcasts. When one of the villain’s bombs gravely injures Tony Stark’s bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Stark vows to bring the Mandarin to justice.

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There’s no denying that, in large part, what makes the “Iron Man” franchise so popular is Robert Downey Jr.’s go-go, quip-heavy performance, but he’s a known quantity by now. What audiences will be talking about after this movie is the Mandarin, due to Kingsley’s performance, as well as a plot twist that we won’t reveal here.

There’s also the matter of the character’s lineage. “A movie is only as good as its bad guy,” Downey says of “Iron Man 3,” and for this latest installment, the filmmakers finally conscripted the superhero’s most infamous nemesis into service.

The Mandarin first appeared in 1964’s “Tales of Suspense” No. 50, and for nearly five decades, he’s been battling Iron Man in various incarnations. Because he’s Shellhead’s premier baddie, the Mandarin was originally supposed to be included in the first Iron Man movie. His appearance was even promised at a Comic-Con panel. But just 12 weeks before filming began, the Mandarin was cut from the script after director Favreau and producer Feige determined the movie was already overstuffed.

For “Iron Man 2,” the Mandarin was again discussed, but he didn’t make the cut — beyond a few hints, that is. In the first film, the terrorist group the Mandarin leads, the Ten Rings, is mentioned in passing, and in a deleted scene from the sequel, a Ten Rings operative helps Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash character sneak into the Monaco racetrack.

One of the problems with bringing the Mandarin to the big screen was his problematic origins. The character from the early comics could be considered a racist caricature, like Fu Manchu or similarly insensitive Hollywood bad guys from bygone eras.

A passage on the Mandarin’s first comic book appearance reads, “In the remote vastnesses [sic] of Red China stands the castle of the most mysterious, the most feared Oriental of all time.”

Clearly an update was in order.

“The franchise has evolved from comics that were written in the 1960s,” Kingsley says. “I think perhaps — I’m guessing — they might have presented a simplified version of life, rather polarized. Now the Marvel franchise has decided to bring it into the 21st century.”

“Iron Man 3” co-writer and director Shane Black admits that he originally didn’t want to use the villain because of the racist overtones. Ultimately a solution was hit upon: Instead of making the Mandarin an ethnic Chinese, why not make his race and origins indeterminate? (This strategy also didn’t hurt in the huge movie market of China Marvel is hoping to crack.)

“We don’t know where he’s from at first, but he seems to be some kind of military officer that has gone off the reservation,” Feige told marvel.com. “He is starting to pull all of this iconography and symbolism from other cultures to his own ends, to use them as symbols to pervert the symbol of the United States. He utilizes the moniker of the Mandarin and robes with dragons on them, and uses South American guerrilla tactics to create this aura of fear of his terror organization.”

Surprisingly, Kingsley says the Mandarin is American. “I thought it was an interesting idea to mix it up so if you’re going to do something that involves a terrorist in a modern world, why not say something about the entire experience of a what it would take to create a myth that’s all things to all people?” co-writer Black says, adding that the Mandarin’s beard is meant to evoke Fidel Castro, and a field cap, Moammar Gadhafi.

To play the Mandarin, the filmmakers intentionally sought someone with a fluid appearance when it came to race. Kingsley is half-English, half-Indian. Black was also a big fan of the actor’s evil turn as a British gangster in 2000’s “Sexy Beast.”

Another aspect of the character’s — in Feige’s words — “purposefully blurred” ethnicity is his voice. Kingsley has created a unique accent for the terrorist that’s hard to pin down because it recalls every region and none. When asked if the Mandarin’s voice includes any Southern American inflection, Kingsley answers, “Did you hear it? Then it’s there.”

The actor says he studied historical newsreel footage of European political speeches while building the character. “What I’ve seen is that those who broadcast what might be considered a lethal message do so with a sense of righteousness that they are the truth and the destiny of their civilization,” Kingsley says.

The script provided additional clues. “It describes [the Mandarin] through various characters as a ‘preacher’ and ‘one who gives lessons,’ ” Kingsley says. “Therefore it was clear to me it could not be a hysterical rant. It had to be something measured, paternalistic. Hypnotic.”

Kingsley tried on a few costumes before deciding on the green hooded cloak in which he felt “empowered.” The Mandarin’s most famous accessory, his 10 rings, which in the comics grant him magical abilities, were crafted by prop master Russell Bobbitt. Each took months to make and was given a custom paint job and a specific stone.

Magic likely won’t be required for “Iron Man 3” to strike box-office gold when it opens Friday. The movie, seen as the kickoff to the summer blockbuster season, is estimated to earn a $160 million in its first weekend. That’s enough to make even a terrorist mastermind like the Mandarin crack a smile.