Last fall, we learned that Ben Kingsley was shooting a “secret Marvel project”, and last week we reported that the upcoming Thor: The Dark World Blu-ray would contain the latest Marvel One-Shot, “All Hail the King”. Unsurprisingly, that’s the “secret Marvel project”, and now we have the first images and details regarding Kingsley reprising his role as delightful dupe Trevor Slattery. The short will be an epilogue to Iron Man 3 and see Trevor receiving the acclaim and adulation he’s always wanted albeit from within prison. However, not everyone is a fan, and writer-director Drew Pearce (who co-wrote Iron Man 3) says this short will actually provide some comfort to the comic book fans who were upset that Kingsley wasn’t actually the Mandarin.

Hit the jump for more including four images from the short. Click here to pre-order Thor: The Dark World, which will be released on February 25th.

marvel-one-shot-all-hail-the-king-ben-kingsley-2Although Pearce didn’t lay out the entire plot of the short film, we know that Scoot McNairy (Argo) will play a documentary filmmaker who’s putting together a piece about the aftermath of the Mandarin situation, and that this will allow us to see some of Trevor’s other acting work, including a failed 1980s pilot that Pearce describes as “sort of like Magnum P.I. mixed with the Cold War”.

But for people who want a little more comics mythology, there will be some explanation of how the “Ten Rings” organization that were mentioned in the first Iron Man come back around. Says Pearce:

“Imagine a real terrorist organization whose beliefs were long held and religious for thousands of years, and imagine a drunk, British actor coming along and essentially telling the world that he’s the face of your organization,” Pearce tells EW. “I think they would be right to be quite angry.”

marvel-one-shot-all-hail-the-king-ben-kingsley-2As far as the ramifications of the short, Pearce teases:

“by the end of the short, there are definitely a lot of exciting other places that are brought up in it that could then go in the Marvel universe. You know, whether that’s an Iron Man movie or another one going into Phase Two or Three.”

I don’t know how far out Marvel is willing to build based on a short film included on a Blu-ray, but I like that “All Hail the King” will at least have the potential to lead to other stories.

Via EW.

Read more at http://collider.com/marvel-one-shot-all-hail-the-king-images/#OeQKXeKZYArE1Zrl.99