After Marvel was caught lying about the Skrulls/Chitauri in The Avengers, they got a bit of flack from fanboys. It looks like lying about the villain of their movies is now company policy as it’s been revealed that the villain in Iron Man 3 is indeed the Mandarin.

Last November, at the Long Beach Comic Con, Shane Black dismissed the Mandarian as the villain in the movie as he described the character as a “racist caricature”. This went against the setup for the Mandarin that they did in the first Iron Man, so fans thought it was bizarre.

Now Iron Man 3 is prepping for production and actors are being cast while locations are being set. Recently, Ben Kingsley was cast as a villain in the movie and obviously fans think he’s playing the Mandarin. Adding to that fire is the fact that the movie will actually be filming in China!

If those two elements weren’t enough to get the Mandarin rumors flying, the latest bit of casting has confirmed it. Infernal Affairs star Andy Lau has been cast in the movie as a friend of Tony’s, and the description of his character specifically mentions the Mandarin. Neonpunch has the news:

Andy Lau’s character will be an OLD FRIEND OF TONY STARK’S that represents China’s technology sector – and will use China’s armored heroes to HELP Iron Man defeat “The Mandarin” who is seen as a terrorist against both the US and China.

So there we have it. At least Marvel didn’t keep lying about it until right before the movie came out.