AceShowbiz -

A superhero flick filled with Academy Award-recognized stars, that's "Iron Man." Following the inclusion of Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, and Gwyneth Paltrow, the project has satisfyingly signed another Oscar-nominated actor Jeff Bridges to the cast lineup, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Here Bridges will play a close business associate of Iron Man's alter ego Tony Stark, played by Downey, who also plays a major role in shaping the younger man's life. Meanwhile, Howard has already been billed as Jim Rhodes, a pilot and friend of Stark, and Paltrow as Stark's personal secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts.

"We've been talking to Jeff for long time," so said Kevin Feige, Marvel's president of production. "He's excited about doing a movie like this, and we're excited to have him in this particular role. There are many facets to this character which I can't discuss, but looking at the spectrum of all of Jeff's roles, this fits in nicely with the man who played 'Starman,' 'Tucker,' 'Big Lebowski' with a little bit 'Tron' thrown in."

"This rounds out our ensemble, and I think it's one of the strongest casts ever assembled for one of our films," the man concluded.

Shooting on the movie is slated to begin in March in Los Angeles to meet a planed May 2, 2008 release. Jon Favreau is on duty to direct from script written by Arthur Marcum, Matt Holloway, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby. Marvel Entertainment will independently produce with Paramount Pictures to distribute.