Who is Trevor Slattery? A brief history of Ben Kingsley’s hilarious Marvel character

With news that Ben Kingsley has been cast in the forthcoming superhero series Wonder Man, we’re looking at the history of the character he’ll be playing in the Marvel show: actor Trevor Slattery.

Ben Kingsley has played Trevor Slattery a total of three times thus far: in movies Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and in the spinoff short All Hail the King.

Slattery was a successful stage actor whose Lear became “the toast of Croydon,” but then he fell on hard times and developed a drink and drug problem.

Needing money, he accepted a mysterious offer, which is how actor Trevor Slattery became terrorist The Mandarin…

Trevor Slattery in Iron Man 3

Mandarin is introduced as leader of the Ten Rings during Iron Man 3. However the big reveals comes later in the movie when we learn that The Mandarin is all a performance, with the character being played by actor Trevor Slattery.

That’s because Slattery has been hired by the real villain of the piece – Aldrich Killian – to take responsibility for his failed experiments by claiming they are terrorist attacks.

Killian supplies Slattery with drugs and booze to keep him happy, and in return, the actor appears on TV as Mandarin after each accident, to say they are lessons for the American people.

Slattery is eventually arrested, and sent to prison for his part in the terrorist plot.

All Hail the King

In short film All Hail the King, Trevor Slattery is serving time in Seagate Prison, and enjoying the infamy that comes with being The Mandarin. He even has a butler.

The “Marvel One-Shot” finds him being interviewed by documentarian Jackson Norriss, and still failing to grasp the serious nature of his crimes.

Then, the twist – Norriss is really a member of the actual Ten Rings, and is there to break Slattery out, and take him to the organization’s real leader.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Slattery was delivered to Ten Rings boss Wenwu, who decides to keep him alive, and employed as his “Court Jester,” reciting Shakespeare monologues to entertain the terrorist group.

Slattery is kept in isolation, with only a hundun named Morris for company. He also gets sober, and has an unexpected turn, escaping the compound with help from Shang-Chi, and defending a village from both the Ten Rings, and the Dweller-in-the-Darkness. With Trevor ending the film a hero.

That might have been the last we saw of Trevor Slattery, but this week’s report suggests he’ll return in the upcoming Marvel series Wonder Man. The show is being made by Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton, with filming is expected to commence in 2023.