Marking the exit of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau and the entrance of new director Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), it’s been wondered how much—if at all—things would be shaken up for trilogy-maker Iron Man 3.

We won’t really known the answer to this question until we start seeing goodies from the movie released, but today comes word of a potential villain for the film.

It’s being reported that the great Ben Kingsley has entered into negotiations to join the cast, and that if everything goes smoothly he would be playing the movie’s villain after Jeff Bridges’ and Mickey Rourke/Sam Rockwell’s turns in the first two installments.

The news creates speculation as to just who Kingsley would be playing. One character that has been highly speculated to show up as the series has progressed—much like The Lizard in the Spider-Man franchise was for so long—is, of course, the Mandarin.

At the moment, however, it sounds like the Chinese martial arts mega-master and brilliant scientist is not who Kingsley would be playing…which is probably something most fans will be happy to hear (as much as people want to see Mandarin, Sir Ben is not an actor that jumps to mind for the role).

So who might Kingsley be playing? According to sources, the actor would play a villain who’s threatening to release a devastating virus via nanobots. The movie is said to be loosely based on the six-issue Warren Ellis take on the Iron Man character, titled Extremis.

Extremis was used for some inspiration in the first two movies, but with nanotechnology being a big part of the story, fans of Ellis’s comic should be excited for Iron Man 3.

Do you like Ben Kinglsey as a villain in Iron Man 3? Would you prefer he be the only villain, or are you hoping for something along the lines of Iron Man 2 with multiple baddies giving Tony Stark problems?

[Source: Showblitz]