MARVEL’S AVENGERS ASSEMBLE isn’t even in cinemas yet, but things are already gearing up for the third installment in the IRON MAN series – which may see Sir Ben Kingsley as the villain.
Shane Black takes over from Jon Favreau as director, with returning cast members Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark), Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) and Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) reprising their previous roles.
Little is known of the plot so far, but it’s said to incorporate nanobot technology (which Tony Stark implements in his suit). Variety reports that should Kingsley’s attachment to the project be confirmed, we’ll likely be seeing him involved in the spreading of a virus that emerges as a result of the nanotech.
Such a role suggests that Black has not followed Favreau’s setup for Iron Man’s original arch nemesis The Mandarin – a wealthy Chinese scientist who was indirectly responsible for creating the suited hero, and a classic comic book villain.
Fans of the comic lore may be disappointed by this news, but with the serious superhero reboots of the past few years, just where would a man who throws ‘alien-forged power rings’ at his enemies come in?
A serious revamp of the character may have been necessary, which would no doubt have had the fans complaining anyway. Either way, Kingsley’s name is certainly a worthy one to be attached to the threequel, which will hopefully pull back on course after the disappointing and self-indulgent IRON MAN 2.
IRON MAN 3 will start production in May, with a pre-emptive release date of 3rd May 2013 – but for a quicker fix of the billionaire genius, make sure to catch MARVEL’S AVENGERS ASSEMBLE on 27th April 2012.
Source: Collider
