With Iron Man 3 due to start shooting next month, you’d have expected to hear more about new cast members by now, but it appears with all eyes on The Avengers, things are only starting to happen now. The film did sign up Ben Kingsley a couple weeks ago and has now added another new actor, as Variety reports Guy Pearce is in final negotiations to join the cast.
The actor will portray geneticist Aldrich Killian, who created the Extremis technology which will play an important part in the sequel. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) adopts the technology after Killian sells it to some terrorists. The story will follow the spread of a virus through nanotechnology, which Tony Stark tries to stop. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), and Don Cheadle (James Rhodes) will reprise their roles from Iron Man 2, with Kingsley portraying the villain.
Production is scheduled to start next month in North Carolina, with Shane Black directing from a screenplay by Drew Pearce.