Guy Pearce in line for Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 looks to be shaping up very nicely indeed. Not only has Ben Kingsley signed on to play one of the film's villains, but Variety is now reporting that Guy Pearce is set to join the cast as geneticist Aldrich Killian.

The new film will be loosely based upon Warren Ellis' Extremis series, in which the theme of nanotechnology is at the forefront of events. Ever on the lookout for ways to improve upon his famous suit, Tony Stark employs the technology on his latest version. However, his plans go awry when his customisations become threatened by a virus.

Pearce is in line to play the aforementioned Killian, a genetic scientist who helps to create the Extremis virus, a threat to nanobot technology. When he sells his research to a terrorist cell, things become tricky for the newly vulnerable Iron Man.

This all fits in with what Marvel's Kevin Feige recently told Collider about the plan to take Tony Stark out of his comfort zone for this third film.

" Iron Man 3 is very much inspired by the first half of Iron Man 1 ," said Feige. "We’re not going back to the cave, but he’s stripped of everything, he’s backed up against a wall, and he’s gotta use his intelligence to get out of it. He can’t call Thor, he can’t call Cap, he can’t call Nick Fury, and he can’t look for the Helicarrier in the sky."

Iron Man 3 will open in the UK on 3 May 2013. We're excited already...

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.