MANDARIN or LOKI in THOR: THE DARK WORLD One-Shot?


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If you’re buying a Marvel Studios film on Blu-Ray, you’re guaranteed a lot of special features, and Thor: The Dark World will be no different (sorry DVD buyers, you’re probably screwed on that front). The British Board of Film Classification has released a list of the special features that will be included, but it’s the title of this short film that has us curious of what it will be about. Titled “All Hail The King,” all we know is that it runs a little over 13 minutes.

The One-Shots are usually used to highlight areas of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that don’t directly involve the superheroes themselves. We’ve gotten everything from Agent Coulson kicking ass in a gas station to most recently watching Agent Carter retrieving the Zodiac serum during World War II. They could be about almost anything, and they don’t even have to directly relate to the film they’re being paired with. Anything goes!

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to Marvel news over the past few months, and if you’ve found yourself on this wonderful site you probably have, you’ll know that Ben Kingsley, a.k.a. fake Mandarin, is working on a short film with Marvel, so is it possible that Trevor Slattery will be the subject of this royal short? Although I didn’t go into rage mode when I saw the Mandarin twist, I can’t say I was too pleased by it either. Despite my mixed feelings, I did think Kingsley played both the terrorist mastermind and the drunken buffoon quite well, so I wouldn’t mind seeing him for a couple more minutes. Plus, I remember hearing how the short film might introduce the “real” Mandarin and have him be pissed about how Slattery and Aldrich Killian soiled his legendary title.

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However, there is a second liklier possibility. Despite claims that it wasn’t feasible to feature Loki in a One-Shot, maybe Asgard’s most notorious trickster will be the star of the short film. We saw at the end of Thor: The Dark World that Thor’s conversation with Odin at the end was actually with a disguised Loki, who somehow survived his mortal wound from Algrim earlier. It’s not much of a stretch to figure Loki faked his death, but his disguise as Odin was left ambiguous. Was Loki pretending to be Odin while his adoptive father was rejuvenating elsewhere in the palace, or had Loki actually committed patricide and eliminated Odin to take his place on the throne? He killed his birth father Laufey, so not hard to imagine him doing the same to the Allfather.

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We don’t know if there will be a Thor 3 yet, so maybe this short will explain what exactly Loki did to appease our confused minds. Or maybe it’ll just show Loki abusing his power as king of Asgard. He may have tried to redeem himself, but I still think Loki has some sinister tendencies that won’t go away easily.

Well, my speculations are done for now. Don’t worry, we won’t have to wait too long to find out. The Blu-Ray will be released one Feb. 25 in the United States, and I’m guessing the UK release will be somewhere around that time as well. If you’re interested about the other special features, here is the list below.

00:13:13:16

ALL HAIL THE KING – A MARVEL ONE-SHOT
00:16:14:22
A BROTHERS JOURNEY – THOR & LOKI (PART 1)
00:14:02:12
A BROTHERS JOURNEY – THOR & LOKI (PART 2)
00:03:23:19
EXCLUSIVE LOOK – CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
00:05:05:00
SCORING THOR: THE DARK WORLD WITH BRYAN TYLER
00:01:32:04
DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES: EXTENDED CELEBRATION SCENE
00:01:38:17
DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES: JANE LEARNS ABOUT THE AETHER
00:01:00:11
DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES: LOKI: THE FIRST AVENGER
00:01:07:08
DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES: THOR AND FRIGGA DISCUSS LOKI
00:00:19:17
DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES: DARK ELVES PREPARE FOR BATTLE
00:01:42:02
DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES: EXTENDED VANAHEIM SCENE
00:01:32:04
EXTENDED CELEBRATION SCENE COMMENTARY BY ALAN TAYLOR & KRAMER MOREGENTHAU
00:01:38:17
JANE LEARNS ABOUT THE AETHER COMMENTARY BY ALAN TAYLOR & KRAMER MOREGENTHAU
00:01:00:11
LOKI: THE FIRST AVENGER COMMENTARY BY TOM HIDDLESTON
00:01:07:08
THOR AND FRIGGA DISCUSS LOKI COMMENTARY BY KEVIN FEIGE
00:00:19:17
DARK ELVES PREPARE FOR BATTLE COMMENTARY BY KEVIN FEIGE
00:03:18:24
GAG REEL
01:47:23:24
THOR THE DARK WORLD (FEATURE WITH AUDIO COMMENTARY)

SOURCE: Bleeding Cool