Is Marvel One-Shot feature "All Hail The King" a teaser for the emergence of the real Mandarin? And if there's Mandarin, there should be Iron Man. The co-writer for "Iron Man 3" and writer-director of the short film feature shares some secrets!

The first question should be asked, will there be a Mandarin, or is Trevor Slattery all there is? From Hero Complex of the LA Times, Ben Kingsley speaks about how he accepted the role, and of a 'journey:'

"Kevin [Feige] came to my house and talked me through the amazing transformation. I found it really appealing that I could play two roles, I could play someone running away from his life and re-inventing himself in an extraordinary way, achieving notoriety. Very appealing, very appealing. There's a tragic streak running through him and I think that was beautifully used by Drew in the writer. There was pathos, there's vulnerability, there's an absurd vanity, there's a dislocation from the truth. Really, really wonderful writing. Then Drew and I just had such a wonderful time working together with Shane Black, Drew said, "How would you feel about revisiting him?" I knew that in Drew's hands it would be a good idea because Drew completely invented and comprehends that journey from Trevor to the Mandarin."

Now, we have writer-director Drew Pearce, an interview with Collider. He discusses the elements of the short film, how the plot was developed and its significance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

"One of the versions of the movie that was shot, Trevor does indeed (die, according to rumors)...What happens in the version of the movie was shot is that I think one of the reasons we got away with, let's face it, quite a few drug references to Trevor in Iron Man 3 because that's actually a plot point.  Trevor has stolen one of the Extremis injectors, basically comes out onto the oil rig, and says "You tried to lock me in the cupboard, you incandescent nobs," and jabs himself, and then promptly blows up. It was, quite frankly, the most Monty Python of all of the beats we had in Iron Man 3.  And it's a testament again to how much latitude Kevin gave Shane and I in the script.  But what we had was much, much better than that version.

So the original short was more of a prequel that explored some of Trevor's past life.  And when we were in the edits and the reshoots and Trevor lived, it became...Prequels inevitably lack a sense of drama.  They're engine has to be foreboding and foreshadowing rather than genuinely exciting because you inevitably know where the character is going to end up.  What is more exciting, especially when you've only got 15 minutes to make a movie, is to put the character in a position where you don't know what's going to happen.  And Trevor is a character who's kind of become synonymous with zig-zagging and surprises, so it's a much better place to put a Trevor Slattery short.  A "What happens next?" version."

There are too many veils, since Marvel could not totally commit to an 'Iron Man 4' movie without locking Robert Downey, Jr to a contract. The threat of "Batman Vs Superman" continues to loom over Marvel Studios, and they are scampering for an answer.