john cho as mandarin in next iron man?

Entertainment Weekly reports on a highly dubious casting rumor that John Cho might play the Mandarin, the villain in the next Iron Man movie: Iron Man 2' 'casting' 'rumor': John Cho as the Mandarin?

It's a stupid story, and making it even stupider is this line: "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." Did the writer really have to go there?

I wouldn't put too much credence in this news. Like a lot of casting rumors that have been floating around the web lately, this one was probably made up by someone with some wishful thinking and too much time on their hands.

That said, I think he wouldn't make a bad Mandarin, assuming that Favreau and Co. will not be going with the traditional Fu Manchu/Yellow Peril representation of the character, and hopefully try to do something new and different. Who knows? It's really too soon to tell.