Filming begins next month in North Carolina for ‘Iron Man 3’ and casting has gone underway to make this a Marvel movie worth watching. Not too long ago we reported that Sir Ben Kingsley will play the big bad in the film but it looks like he may not be the only one, as Variety is reporting that Guy Pearce is now in talks to join the cast.

Pearce played the lead role of Snow in ‘Lockout’ and will be next seen in the Ridley Scott tentpole film ‘Prometheus’ as Peter Weyland, the head of Weyland Industries which sends the Prometheus crew to the unknown. In ‘Iron Man 3,’ Pearce will play geneticist Aldrich Killian, a shady inventor who threatens the world with this new form of nano-technology.

It’s been known that ‘Iron Man 3’ would be loosely based on Warren Ellis’ six issue storyline called ‘Extremis’ and although Killian wasn’t a major player in the comic series, casting Pearce for the part hints that the writers may have beefed up the character’s importance.

In the comics, Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen create a new form of nanotechnology called ‘Extremis’ that is capable of rewriting the body’s repair center and create a super soldier. Killian not only introduces the virus to Tony Stark and Stark industries but also sells it to terrorists.

While it’s not known how close the movie will follow the comic books, we do know that Kingsley will be playing a villain responsible for spreading a virus through the use of the nanobots. Although earlier reports have him not playing the role of Mandarin, the villain does play a role in the comic version and the fact that part of the movie will be filmed in China makes one think that those reports may just be a misdirect.

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had said that he had wanted to “metaphorically put Tony back in the cave from the first film” for ‘Iron Man 3’ and to strip him of everything with nothing but his intelligence to pull him out. The ‘Extremis’ plot line seems to work well with his thoughts and may be the movie that will allow us to forget ‘Iron Man 2.’

So far with Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Scarlett Johansson all returning and the addition of Kingsley and Pearce, ‘Iron Man 3’ is looking like a film worthy of following ‘The Avengers.’

‘Iron Man 3’ is slated to be released on May 3, 2013.