Avengers 2 Rumor Control: Ben Kingsley To Appear as The Mandarin? Probably Not.

A new report coming out of India maintains that Sir Ben Kingsley, who famously played Mahatma Gandhi in a 1982 film, will arrive in the country to film an as-yet-undisclosed feature film in September of this year. "It is interesting Sir Ben Kingsley will be arriving in India in September to shoot for about 20 days in the capital of West Bengal. Though the project is under wraps, many are suggesting that it could be related to Avengers 2 that brings all the superheroes together in one film," a source told IBN Live. Given the fact that Iron Man 3 is not yet in theaters and fans aren't sure of the character's final fate, the revelation that The Mandarin is still alive and kicking come time for Avengers 2 could be something of a spoiler--if it were true. But Joss Whedon has recently said, on more than one occasion, that Avengers 2 will likely begin filming in February of 2014. If something has changed that date in the last week or so since Whedon's last public comments, it seems more likely that it would be pushed back, rather than forward--especially if it were a substantial change like five months. With Iron Man 3 heading to theaters, it's likely that someone just has Marvel on the brain and, upon being told that Kingsley was filming an undisclosed movie there, assumed they knew what it was. It's theoretically plausible that his character could survive Iron Man 3 and go on to trouble Marvel's heroes in the Avengers sequel--but even if he does, this report is likely not our first rumblings of things to come.