The ‘first phase’ of the Marvel Studios shared universe comes to a climactic end on May 4th, but the ‘second phase’ continues to chug along and is set to begin one year later. On May 3rd, 2013 Iron Man 3 should be hitting theaters nation wide.
According to Variety, Marvel Studios might have finally found their foe in the Shane Black directed sequel:
Ben Kingsley is in final talks to play the villain in Marvel Studios and Disney’s “Iron Man 3,” but fans of the comicbook character will be disappointed to learn he won’t take on original Tony Stark archenemy the Mandarin.
Instead, Kingsley’s character is involved in the spread of a virus through nanobots, given that “Iron Man 3” is loosely based on Warren Ellis’ six-issue “Extremis” comicbook series first published in 2005. That arc — which also heavily influenced the first “Iron Man” pic — introduced a new origin story and focused heavily on nanotechnology.
Ben Kingsley could be an inspired choice for Iron Man’s next foe, but this whole thing kind of reminds me of when Liam Neeson was signed onto Batman Begins. He was a seemingly perfect Ra’s Al Ghul, but they tried to keep that under wraps.
Could that be what Marvel Studios is doing for Iron Man’s biggest baddie? Kingsley is a seemingly great choice for Mandarin, but at the same time he is likely a great choice for what ever role they want for him. Keep up-to-date with Iron Man when he battles alongside some pals next month in The Avengers.
