"Iron Man 3" : Enter Rebeccca Hall

Actress Rebecca Hall ("The Prestige") has been cast as the 'female lead' of the upcoming Disney/Marvel sequel "Iron Man 3".

The new film will be based on writer Warren Ellis’, 2010 six-issue Marvel Comics series, "Iron Man: Extremis".

The third film in the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' "Iron Man" series, starting May 2012 in North Carolina, before heading to China, will again star Downey with Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle. New to the cast is Guy Pearce and Sir Ben Kingsley ("Sexy Beast") to play the villain.

Halls' character, reportedly a "sexy scientist" that rivals 'Tony Stark' in tech-brilliance, will play a pivotal part in the creation of a new 'nanotechnology' known as 'Extremis', that winds up in the hands of terrorists and becomes a carrier for a viral outbreak.

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