Source: Variety | Posted By: Dan Geer

Comic book fans may be gearing up for the release of The Avengers next month, but details on the next stand alone Iron Man film are also a much sought-after mystery by geeks around the globe – especially since Marvel is already going into early production on the film.

But today, we have been given one major news tidbit from Variety that none other than Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Schindler’s List) is in final negotiations to play the villian in Iron Man 3. Read on for more details!

Currently, details on the actual plot are quite scarce, but sources say that the plot will not revolve around the villain Mandarin, a character that Jon Favreau (director of the first two Iron Man films) expressed interest in tackling in a future Iron Man film. Now that Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) is directing, it looks like a different villain has been chosen.

According to Variety, Kingsley’s role will apparently revolve around the spreading of a virus using nanobot technology – a technology dealt with in the six-issue comic series by Warren Ellis titled Extremis, where Tony Stark incorporates said technology into his Iron Man suit. At this point, no one is revealing which Iron Man villain Kingsley will be playing, but it does appear that the plot will be loosely based on the Extremis series, as previous reports have suggested.

This could just all be denial tactics by Marvel, and perhaps Mandarin will be the villain after all. But until the character is officially revealed, we can only continue to speculate. More details as they emerge!

Iron Man 3 is currently slated to hit theaters nationwide May 3, 2013.