Trevor Slattery was an actor with drug addictions and legal problems until he was approached by the scientist Aldrich Killian to pose as the Mandarin, the idealized perfect terrorist. Taking responsibility for the widespread accidents caused by Killian's experiments, the Mandarin persona convinced people that he was in command of the infamous terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings, eventually becoming the most feared terrorist in the West. He was captured by Tony Stark and put in Seagate Prison, where he became something of a celebrity. There he became the subject of a documentary by Jackson Norriss, who was really an agent of the real Mandarin, and whose real purpose was to kidnap Slattery.