Aldrich Killian

   This is an article about the leader of A.I.M., who claimed to be the Mandarin's true alter ego. For the true leader of the Ten Rings see Mandarin, and for the actor hired to portray the Mandarin, see Trevor Slattery. "This time tomorrow, I’ll have the West’s most powerful leader in one hand, and the world’s most feared terrorist in the other. I’ll own the War on Terror."

- Aldrich Killian

Aldrich Killian was the founder and CEO of the Advanced Idea Mechanics and claimer of being the true alter ego of the terrorist called the Mandarin. When Tony Stark refused to join him in his research, Killian participated in the development of the Extremis virus thereby amassing a group of Extremis-enhanced soldiers under his command. He created the idealized terrorist persona known as the "Mandarin" (portrayed by the British actor Trevor Slattery) to serve as his proxy and conspired with Vice President Rodriguez in an attempt to take control over both sides of the War on Terror, thus manipulating them for his own profit. However, neither Killian nor Slattery knew that the Mandarin truly existed.

Early life
"You know what my old man used to say to me? One of his favorite of many sayings, 'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.'"

- Aldrich Killian to Tony Stark

Killian grew up with a number of physical disabilities. He  never was able to accept those limitations though and had spent most of his life trying to overcome them in any way he can. His tenacity and blind determination in fighting for a better life were seen by some as irritating, as he often came across as obnoxious. He just wouldn’t accept the cards he was dealt, and being as intelligent as he was, he had a real drive to change himself and become a different person.

Extremis
"How can I be pissed at you, Tony? I'm here to thank you. You gave me the greatest gift that anybody's ever given me. Desperation. If you think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet me on the rooftop, right? Well for the first twenty minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. And the next hour, I...well I considered taking that one step shortcut to the lobby, if you know what I mean."

- Aldrich Killian

In 1999, Aldrich Killian initially asked for Tony Stark's support for his project under Advanced Idea Mechanics, only to be shunned and ignored by the latter. Tony lied and said he would meet him on the roof of the building, but he never came. On the roof Aldrich felt a feeling of power. After his realization that Tony had ignored his proposition, Killian decided to work on his own in creating an expansive business for himself.

Over the years, through his privately-funded organization A.I.M., Aldrich Killian created a team to further research and develop the Extremis virus, which imparts unusual levels of strength and resiliency to human subjects.

Manipulating the War on Terror
"...I had a thought that would guide me for years to come. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since, right? You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face, a Bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin, you hand the people a target."

- Aldrich Killian to Tony Stark

After curing himself of his disability through Maya Hansen's research of the Extremis virus, he conducted many illegal experiments, while creating a terrorist persona known as the "Mandarin" through the use of a British actor, to mask his illegal activities. By masking his illegal activities, Killian is able to conduct his experiments while perpetuating a new "War on Terror" that he could monopolize and control. He answers Tony's threats towards the Mandarin by attacking his house. Upon discovering that Maya Hansen attempted to save Tony due to him holding the knowledge of perfecting Extremis, Killian decides to kidnap Pepper Potts as leverage. Having Pepper Potts as his hostage, he injected her with the Extremis virus to further motivate and antagonize Tony to work for him. With Tony's continued refusal to help him, Killian decides to leave him in captivity while keeping Pepper as his personal "trophy".

Final battle
"No more false faces. You said you wanted the Mandarin, you're looking right at him. It was always me, Tony, right from the start. I am the Mandarin!"

- Aldrich Killian to Tony Stark

After his men had abducted President Ellis, Killian had planned to orchestrate a live feed showing the murder of Ellis, only for Tony Stark and James Rhodes to interrupt and attack their base with the help of Tony's J.A.R.V.I.S.-controlled Iron Man suits. In the ensuing battle, Tony finally finds Pepper, only for her to be trapped under debris. Before he is able to rescue her, an angry Killian attacks Tony with Tony distracting Killian to rescue Pepper.

While Pepper seemingly dies after falling to her apparent death, Killian approaches Tony for a one-on-one battle. The two engage in a brutal fight with Tony switching between various Iron Man suits as Killian destroys each one after another. As Tony was unable to attach any more extra armor onto himself, J.A.R.V.I.S. sent the Mark 42 prototype to aid Tony in his battle. Tony then kinetically attached the armor onto Killian to stall his movements. After commanding the suit to pin Killian against the wall, Tony then activated the Mark 42's self-destruct function, thus blowing Killian up in the process.

After the complex in which the two were fighting was demolished, the battered Tony is confronted by Killian who is shown as surviving the explosion. Advancing towards Tony, he elaborates upon the revelation that he is the real "Mandarin" and that the two should stop wearing "false faces" to hide their identities. Just before he is able to attack Tony, Pepper attacks him from behind, having survived her fall with the help of her new-found Extremis abilities. Just before Killian is able to retaliate, Pepper rips a repulsor arm from one of the Mark X suit, attaching it to her herself and utilizing its capabilities to finally kill Killian for good.

Powers and Abilities
Thanks to the Extremis virus, Killian displays various superhuman abilities, such as being able to regrow entire body parts, strength, enhanced healing factor, a touch able to melt Iron Man's armor, and at one point channels the heat produced by Extremis to spit fire at James Rhodes. Killian was highly-skilled in martial arts, in which he was able to effectively tear through many Iron Man suits with ease and even best Tony Stark in melee combat.

Relationships

 * Tony Stark/Iron Man - Enemy
 * James Rhodes/Iron Patriot - Enemy
 * Pepper Potts - Old friend now enemy
 * Maya Hansen - Co-worker turned enemy
 * Trevor Slattery/Mandarin - Ally and pawn
 * Eric Savin - Ally
 * Ellen Brandt - Ally

Trivia

 * Aldrich's role is much bigger in Iron Man 3 than in the comics. But like the comics, the character didn't live to make it to any other products.
 * This depiction of Aldrich Killian is described by Shane Black as the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of the Mandarin.
 * Kevin Feige revealed in an interview that early drafts of Iron Man depicted the Mandarin as a younger individual (a contemporary to Tony Stark) who would have business dealings with Stark Industries. Though this idea was eventually omitted to further push Obadiah Stane as the main antagonist of the film as opposed to the Mandarin, it would serve as the basis to Killian's character and his future designation as the Mandarin in Iron Man 3.
 * In the non-canonical Iron Man 3 video game it is revealed that Killian's consciousness had been 'downloaded' by A.I.M. prior to his physical death and uploaded into a new, enhanced form: M.O.D.O.K..