Marvel apparently changed the 'Iron Man 3' villain's gender because toys

LOS ANGELES -- Aldrich Killian toy collectors and cosplayers: this is a day for gratitude. We've just learned that your unforgettable, enduringly iconic Iron Man 3 villain was originally written as -- brace yourselves here -- a woman.

Alas, Marvel brass (at the time) realized that the gender of the secretive "Mandarin," who turned out to be a 50-something tech entrepreneur in a tan business suit, needed swift correction. Because as everyone knows, girls don't sell toys.

Thanks to that pervasive, never-proven-wrong notion, the Aldrich Killian™ line of Marvel merch, with its commercially optimized perceived anatomy, exists to this day.

Uproxx reporter Mike Ryan, who has an uncanny knack for digging news nuggets out of what should be routine filmmaker Q&As, pried this gem from Iron Man 3 writer/director Shane Black (who is promoting his new film The Nice Guys):

"There was an early draft of Iron Man 3 where we had an inkling of a problem. Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female. ... 

Now, that’s not [Marvel Studios head Kevin] Feige. That’s Marvel corporate, but now you don’t have that problem anymore."

Black's not-so-subtly referring to Ike Perlmutter, longtime CEO of Marvel Entertainment (including its toy division), whose influence over Marvel Studios was revoked last year when Feige demanded that he begin reporting to Disney bosses instead. But before Feige's power move, the notoriously stingy and immovable Perlmutter called the shots. 

And it's a good thing, too -- because Aldrich Killian fans would've been deprived of one -- or possibly two -- plastic representations of Guy Pearce's legendary turn as the meek-IT-guy-turned-mogul. 

Who hasn't spent an afternoon playing with the Lego Superheroes: Iron Man 3 Aldrich Killian Minifigure?

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

And what would you say to the little boys who clamored for "Diamond Select Toys Series 49: Marvel Minimates -- Iron Man 3: Aldrich Killian and Tony Stark Action Figure" at Christmas 2013? "Sorry, but the Mandarin turned out to be a girl?"

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

There are probably others as well, to the enrichment of Marvel Entertainment shareholders the world over.

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