Jessica Chastain Passes On Iron Man 3 Role

I don't think it's such a good idea, considering all the momentum Avengers has built up for the next few Marvel movies, but Take Shelter star Jessica Chastain has bowed out of an Iron Man 3 role, citing scheduling conflicts as a reason.

In a recent status update on her Facebook page, Chastain posted the following apology and explanation:

“Sorry to say that Iron Man 3 isn’t going to work out,” said the actress. “My schedule is jammed packed and I can’t fit anything else in. The press announced my possible attachment far too soon. I know many of you wanted me to be involved, and I’m so sorry to disappoint you.”

“Hopefully there’ll be another Marvel film in my future,” she continued. “Shane Black and everyone on the IM3 team are really wonderful. I’m very excited to see the film when it comes out.”

Jessica Chastain was originally tapped to play the role of Dr. Maya Hansen, said to be one of the scientists who co-created the Extremis nanovirus that will threaten Tony Stark's nanotech-equipped Iron Man suit.

Black Widow Will NOT Appear in Iron Man 3

Black Widow’s involvement in Iron Man 3 was already hinted at (or confirmed) in past announcements, and the fact that the character is a non-superpowered secret agent/assassin seems to fit in well with Iron Man 3’s planned semi-realistic bent. But in a recent interview, Scarlett Johansson herself confirmed that the Black Widow will not be part of Iron Man 3. The actress clarified that she will be interested in a Black Widow solo movie, though.

“I think that you build this kind of character in the hope that the fans are like, ‘we want more,’” says Johansson. “I personally think there’s an awesome Black Widow movie in there. A kind of Bourne film that would take the whole comic-book genre in a completely different direction. It’d be awesome.”

“I’ve spoken to Marvel about it and Kevin Feige,” she continues, “and there’s so much story to draw from, I think it’d be totally awesome. But do I want to spend another three months shedding the manatee skin and squeezing back into that suit? Not necessarily, but it’s all worth it in the end!”

Guy Pearce in line for Iron Man 3

Don’t worry, he’s not going to replace Robert Downey Jr. (in fact, you don’t have to worry about Downey Jr. being replaced in Iron Man. He’s one of the reasons why the franchise became such a big hit)

According to a recent Variety report, Guy Pearce will join the cast of Iron Man 3 as geneticist Aldrich Killian. The new film will be loosely based on Warren Ellis’ Extremis series, which deals closely with nanotechnology – with Tony Stark employing nanotech to improve his armor significantly, only to regret his decision once his armor becomes threatened by a virus.

Iron Man 3 Will Film In China

A new press release from Marvel has announced that Iron Man's 3rd installment will film on location in China, and will be co-produced by Walt Disney Company China. Filming is set to start later this summer.

Of course, the new announcement is sure to once again kickstart rumors about the Mandarin being the movie's main villain, or will at least have involvement in the plot. Further adding fuel to the fan speculation fire is Marvel's reveal that Iron Man 3 will "find Tony Stark with his back against the wall, facing his most fearsome foes yet."

That's the keyword, right there: FOES. They used a plural word to describe the enemy that Tony will face, which could only mean Iron Man 3 has more than one villain, either that or whoever wrote Marvel's PR accidentally pressed the S key and forgot to proofread the document before sending it out.

Directed by Shane Black, Iron Man 3 will open in the UK on 3 May 2013.