This post contains spoilers, so read at your own risk.
Currently shooting with a May 3rd, 2013 release date in eye is Marvel’s next superhero stunner, Iron Man 3. Being the first film to follow The Avengers, there’s a ton of buzz surrounding the project as to what extent both films will be intertwined.
According to Screen Rant, and director Shane Black, Iron Man 3 will be a stand alone story that introduces new characters and will possibly open the door for future heroes. More importantly, script details have been uncovered and a big reveal has been teased.
Before we get to the possible cameo/post credits scene, let’s first deal with Iron Man 3‘s confirmed characters:
Guy Pearce as Dr. Aldrich Killian
Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin (rumored)
James Badge Dale as Eric Savin
William Sadler as undisclosed character
Asley Hamilton as Firepower
Andy Lau as a scientist
That’s what we knew up until today. With this new information that we’re getting though, we now know that William Sadler will be playing a military general who works closely with War Machine, nixing previous rumors. We can also expect Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) to be watching over Tony Stark this time around, instead of fan favorite Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg).
All well and good, right? Now on to the seriously tantalizing news.
Before dropping out of the film, Andy Lau was going to be playing a version of Chen Lu (Radioactive Man). Not familiar with Mr. Lu? No worries, I’ll let Screen Rant explain the significance of this character.
In Marvel Comics, Chen Lu is a nuclear physicist for the People’s Republic of China and a villain of Iron Man who works for The Mandarin. his abilities from exposure to radiation give him green-colored skin and the abilities to control radiation in various ways. I wouldn’t expect all of taht to show up in Iron Man 3, but do expect his connection with these character to surface as well in his connection to…Ant-Man
Lau’s character hints that Ant-Man may not be too far away. If you recall, director Edgar Wright recently told us that Ant-Man is very close to entering production and that he hopes to shoot some footage by the end of the year. In fact, news on the film has been heating up very quickly over the past few weeks.
Is it possible that we’ll see an Ant-Man post credits cameo shot by Wright, as director Joss Whedon did when he shot the post credits teaser after Thor?
Edgar Wright is one of the most creative visionaries and downright entertaining directors around today, and I’ve been waiting for his Ant-Man film ever since a script was teased. With these hints and reveals on Iron Man 3, it looks like Marvel could be prepping the pint sized hero’s feature at last.
Sure the Iron Man 3 news is exciting, but what about all the Ant-Man fans out there? Are you guys ready to see your beloved hero make the move to the big screen?