With "The Avengers" just days away from opening, Marvel is now focusing on building the cast of the upcoming "Iron Man 3."

Guy Pearce is in talks to join Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Kingsley in the Marvel sequel.

Pearce would play the role of a geneticist, and friend of Tony "Iron Man" Stark, named Aldrich Killian, reports . The film is rumored to be partially based on the popular Warren Ellis-penned storyline"Extremis," in which Killian plays a small, but key, role.

The film, set to shoot in China, is being directed by Shane Black ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang").

Pearce recently appeared opposite Kate Winslet on the HBO miniseries "Mildred Pierce," and toplined the sci-fi feature "Lockout." He'll next be seen in Ridley Scott's quasi-"Alien" prequel "Prometheus," opening in June.

"Iron Man 3" is set to open May 3, 2013.

Meanwhile, you can catch Tony Stark with his heroic buddies in next month's "The Avengers."

沪江娱乐快讯：《钢铁侠3》引入中国投资，成为中美合拍片的消息一出，这部好莱坞大片似乎就成了一位准备嫁到中国来的“准媳妇”，受到的瞩目是空前的。影片将于今年5月开机，此时影迷们最关注的，当然 还是第3集的卡司阵容。如今，又有一位戏好人帅的男演员将加盟《钢铁侠3》，他就是曾凭借诺兰执导的《记忆碎片》而为全世界所熟知的英国男星盖·皮尔斯(Guy Pearce)。

今年将是盖·皮尔斯作品爆炸的一年：虽然《反锁》(Lock-Out)的反响一般，不过《普罗米修斯》可是今年最值得关注和期待的科幻大片，再加上和希亚·拉博夫、汤姆·哈迪、杰西卡·查斯坦合作的《无法无天》将开幕今年的戛纳电影节，盖·皮尔斯今年亮相的机会绝不会少。

据悉，《钢铁侠3》的故事将根据Warren Ellis执笔的《钢铁侠：绝境》(Extremis，也译为钢铁侠：终极改造)系列漫画改编，剧情涉及到纳米技术，盖·皮尔斯的角色将是遗传学家Aldrich Killian。在漫画的世界观中，这个角色参与了绝境病毒(the extremis virus)的研究，并且将其卖给了恐怖分子。据悉，本·金斯利(Ben Kingsley)爵士正在商谈出演，将饰演反派之一，极有可能就是这名恐怖分子。漫威影业主席Kevin Feige表示，第3部的目的是为了将Tony重新丢回第1部的恐怖分子洞穴中，看他被夺走一切，他只能凭借自己的聪明才智自救。

曾经和小罗伯特·唐尼在《小贼·美女·妙探》中合作过的导演沙恩·布莱克将有望执导该片，在前两部中出场过的乔恩·费儒、唐·钱德尔、格温妮丝·帕特洛、斯嘉丽·约翰逊等均有望回归。《钢铁侠3》将于2013年的5月3日上映。