Iron Man 2 have learned that
John Cho has been cast as the Mandarin in Jon Favreau's follow-up to the gold-plated blockbuster. Cho, having appeared as both Harold and Sulu, will make the Asian geek trifecta with this role as the power-ring-wearing, power-mad villain. Other horribly placed sources tell us that Tommy Chong is being eyed to play the Mandarin's father, who claims to be the real genius responsible for the weaponeering success of Howard Stark, Tony's beloved dad.
Does that sound real enough to start a casting rumor? Feels like it to me. After all, was there any more than that to go on when people started talking about Tim Robbins in
Iron Man 2,
Eddie Murphy as the Riddler in
Batman 3, or Rachel Weisz as Catwoman in the same? (Let the record show that I am
100 percent in favor of a Rachel Weisz Catwoman.)
Is it a popularity thing, is that why people feel the need to start these rumors? What purpose do they serve, other to make people think you know more than anyone else? Why do these baseless rumors get any traction at all? Surely, we've got more important things to do with our time.