It is probably not much of a stretch to state that, even with writer/director Joss Whedon’s penchant for killing off fan-loved characters for the sake of amping up a story’s drama, none of the heroes of The Avengers are going to be sporting toe-tags by the time that the final credits role. However, where some of those characters who don’t have their own film franchises may be showing up next could be considered somewhat spoilerish by some, so if you don’t want to know who else besides Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark may be appearing in Iron Man 3, read no further.
As Iron Man 3 is gearing up to start production this May in Wilminton, South Carolina, they have already started to look around the area to hire folks for extras and small supporting roles and thanks to a casting announcement in Feature Film Casting, we know that there will be another Avenger in the film – Natasha Romanoff, akak The Black Widow, as played by Scarlett Johansson.
Considering that there has been some talk that Drew Pearce and director Shane Black’s screenplay next Iron Man film will have more of an espionage-orientated story, the inclusion of the sexy SHIELD agent does make sense.And it also helps the film straddle the line between being its own franchise and continuing to exist in the larger, interwoven tapestry of films that Marvel Studios has created.
The casting announcement also confirms that Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts and that Don Cheadle is returning Lt Col James “Rhodey” Rhodes. Interestingly, it states that Rhodey is not the military’s liaison to Stark Industries but that he is “Stark’s personal pilot, chief aviation engineer and one of Stark’s personal friends.” There’s no mention if Iron Man franchise launcher Jon Favreau will be back to play Tony Stark’s chauffeur Happy Hogan.
Iron Man 3 flies into theaters May 3, 2013.
