The release of The Avengers is now less than a month away, but Marvel is gearing up to start production on their first post-Avengers pic, Iron Man 3. Though little is known regarding the plot, Marvel and director Shane Black have apparently settled on their villain. Variety reports that Sir Ben Kingsley is now in final negotiations to take on the antagonist role in the third Iron Man pic. Though Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau had been setting up the Mandarin as the villain for Iron Man 3, insiders apparently denied that Kingsley would be playing the brilliant and wealthy Chinese scientist. So who exactly will he be playing? Hit the jump for more.

Fans of the comic series have been hoping to see the Mandarin portrayed on the big screen, as the character is a classic villain from the source material who used ten alien-forged rings of power as weapons against his foes. Alas, it appears fans will have to wait a bit longer for the Mandarin to get his day in the sun. We recently learned that the plot of Iron Man 3 would involve nanobot technology that Tony Stark incorporates into his suit, with the conflict coming in the form of a nanobot virus.

Per Variety, Kingsley would play a role that revolves around the spreading of said virus. The storyline is loosely based on Warren Ellis’ Extremis series that focused on nanotechnology. Kingsley’s a swell actor and is definitely in line with the caliber of talent that Favreau brought to the first Iron Man with Jeff Bridges, so I think he’s a nice addition to the cast. It’s hard to say whether he’s right for the role, as we don’t really know what the role is. Production on the film is set to get underway in May in North Carolina, with Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Scarlett Johansson all reprising their roles from the previous films. Kingsley is currently filming the adaptation of Ender’s Game.

Hopefully we’ll hear more about Kingsley’s character soon, but in the meantime I’ll leave it to those more versed in Iron Man lore than me to speculate away in the comments. Iron Man 3 opens on May 3rd, 2013.

日前《钢铁侠3》片方透露，他们正与本·金斯利进行最后洽谈，邀请其在片中出演反派人物。令人意外的是，片方明确表示这一角色并不是传说已久的“满大人”。

有着英国、东印度和南非血统的本·金斯利在饰演亚洲人上有着得天独厚的优势，1982年他第一次担任电影主角便因《甘地传》一举拿下奥斯卡影帝桂冠，因此当消息传出他将加盟《钢铁侠3》时，影迷们第一时间想到的便会是成吉思汗的后裔——满大人。

据介绍，漫画里的满大人的父亲是解放前中国最富有的人，母亲则是英国贵族（这似乎也与本·金斯利亚欧结合的双亲不谋而合），因父母去世被愤世嫉俗的姑妈带大，而后利用遗产与个人才干在国民党集团里谋得高位。新中国成立后，满大人被放逐到一个神秘村庄，在那他发现了一艘外形宇宙飞船，随即掌握了先进技术，开始全面复仇与称霸。满大人是钢铁侠最强劲的对手，前两部《钢铁侠》的导演乔恩·费儒也早早透露他希望第三部的反派是满大人。

尽管一切看起来顺理成章，片方却另有打算。据透露，《钢铁侠3》的反派也是一位掌握着顶尖技术的人物，他操纵纳米机器人，企图控制世界。但具体细节尚未明了，导演更换之后剧情走向显得更加神秘了。

《钢铁侠3》由《致命武器》、《终极尖兵》的编剧沙恩·布莱克担任导演，小罗伯特·唐尼继续领衔。影片初步定于2013年5月3日在美国上映。