IRON MAN 3 Update: Ben Kingsley Is The Mandarin? Guy Pierce Is Aldrich Killian? *AND* First Set Photos!!

IRON MAN 3 Set Location At Wilmington International Airport

Update on Shane Black's IRON MAN 3 now shooting in Wilmington, NC! Our friends over at LatinoReview got the goods on a potential casting scoop that sees Ben Kingsley suiting up as The Mandarin but not as originally suspected. He won't be the main antagonist but merely a distraction and partner to the real villain that Tony Stark must overcome, Guy Pierce's Aldrich Killian. Killian is a scientist who uncovers something called the Extremis Virus (potentially nanobot technology) which he then uses to create an "Extremis army" of superpowered evildoers.

Robert Downey Jr. On IRON MAN 3 Set

That being said, there is another movie site claiming that The Mandarin is the main villain. For a movie that only cameos The Mandarin there is a lot of action going on surrounding his character apparently. What sort of action? Well this came from CBM: "Those that did get a glimpse inside [the Cape Fear Club] reported seeing extras dressed in military uniforms and suits. The extras in suits were described as looking like Secret Service men." The site also claims that a source "involved with the production" reassured them that The Mandarin is "definitely" the villain. He said Mandarin had a set of twins that did most of his dirty work for him. Another source who had visited EUE/Screen Gems Studios told us that the sets they were building included Chinese storefronts."

And it's known that the next location for the IRON MAN production is China. 

So I think it's safe to say that The Mandarin is definitely in IRON MAN 3 but to what extent has not been brought to light. With two different versions of what is going on with the movie I can only go by past performance with regard to sources and that means LatinoReview gets the nod. A limited exposure to The Mandarin, perhaps setting him up for another Marvel universe movie - though I can't see that happening with THE AVENGERS 2 as Thanos is set to reign.

IRON MAN 3 Set, Wilmington, NC

The closest thing we have to a storyline thus far came from producer Kevin Feige when he disclosed:
"So Iron Man 3 has been structured specifically to be the antidote to The Avengers... Circumstances in the story separate Tony from having access to anything. We wanted to take Tony back to, metaphorically speaking, the cave from Iron Man, the first half of Iron Man, when he's cut off from the world and needs just focus on his intellects to get himself out of his situation. So he's not calling Thor, he's not calling Captain America, he can't press a special button to have the helicarrier come rescue him, so I think that'll be a nice complement to the team up of Avengers." 

I've selected a few shots from the Wilmington, NC sets for you to look at, but feel free to browse all of them right here.

Click here for all of our IRON MAN 3 coverage! IM3 opens on May 3, 2013. Still no official word on whether IM3 will be the first of the franchise and the fourth Marvel movie to be converted to 3D, but it's a safe wager at this point.