Sci-Fi Wire spoke to Faran Tahir — the man who played Raza in the first Iron Man movie — exclusively about his possible inclusion in future chapters of the franchise. The information that he offered was pretty interesting and suggested that maybe…just maybe, his character from the first movie was set up to take on the role of legendary Iron Man villain — Mandarin.

Tahir’s Raza character was the main man when it came to Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) captivity. The group that he was leading is part of the infamous Ten Rings organization, which is run by Mandarin. Also worth note from the movie is how Raza references Ghenghis Kahn — an ancestor of Mandarin’s — as well as plays around with a gold ring which held a red stone, as rings are where Mandarin’s powers came from.