The plot involves a series of terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley)-- a mysterious figure who makes
videos like Al - Qaeda, wears ornate silk robes, and speaks in an American accent with heavy enunciation — and a think tank run by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a man with a chip
on shoulder against Stark, that's creating super-soldiers who can increase their internal body temperature
on a whim (Illogically, they can be killed by fire, except, of course, when the story calls for their
immunity to it)-- sometimes with explosive results.