The Avengers hasn’t even rolled out into theaters and we are already talking Iron Man 3,how intense is that? Although this ship is very tight-lipped, we have received new information from a casting call for the film. There is nothing too shocking, but it is a nice reassurance to ease our aching fan boy/girl bones.

[Beware there are slight spoilers for those who do not want to know who will come out of The Avengers alive other than Iron Man himself obviously]

Iron Man 3has been rumored to dance around the Extremis storyline written by Warren Ellis, but that is neither confirmed or denied. This casting call doesn’t state who they are looking for specifically in principal actors, but acts as more of an announcement. It doesn’t appear as though secondary characters have been chosen either, but perhaps Marvel and Disney will be holding out until we get closer to production.

Two-time Academy Award nominated Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his roles as as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron Man. Scarlett Johansson will return from “Iron Man 2” playing Natasha Romanoff aka “The Black Widow”, and Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark’s closest friend, love interest, and business partner Pepper Potts. Don Cheadle, who replaced Terrence Howard after the first “Iron Man”, returns as Lt. Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes – Stark’s personal pilot, chief aviation engineer for Stark International, and one of Stark’s closest friends.

As I said, these are pretty obvious choices for casting, but for those looking for true spoiler free information, announcing that Black Widow will be returning lessens the tension on screen during The Avengers. If there was any reason to believe she may not survive the film, it’s gone now. Would Marvel even be willing to kill off their main cast of superheroes as they do so in the comics? That is a whole different conversation for another day.

There is no final release date set for Iron Man 3, but filming does begin very soon. It doesn’t look like any of the cast returning for Iron Man 3 who will be seen in The Avengers will have much time to celebrate its release:

Shooting will take place in the Wilmington, NC area and other locations in North Carolina from May 21, 2012 through September 7, 2012.

It will be interesting to see an Iron Man film without Jon Favreau on deck. Shane Black is the director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I have not seen, but I have seen his written works that include the Lethal Weapon series. I’m crossing my fingers that they pick a villain worthy enough to top whatever happens in The Avengers. (Please let it be the Mandarin.)

Source: The Daily Blam! via /Film