AceShowbiz -

After landing a role as ambitious Peter Weyland in "Prometheus", Guy Pearce is one step closer to tackle another villainous character in "Iron Man 3". Variety has learned that the "Lockout" actor is finalizing a deal to star as geneticist Aldrich Killian in the upcoming armored hero movie.

In the Marvel comic books, Killian is described as a co-creator of the Extremis technology, which Iron Man adopts after Killian sells the technology to a terrorist. It has been speculated that Ben Kingsley is the one who will play the terrorist involved in spreading a virus through nanobots.

Plot details of the third "Iron Man" movie are still kept under very tight wraps. Though so, it has been reported that the upcoming film will be loosely based on Warren Ellis' six-issue "Extremis" comic book series, which were published in 2005. The comics presented a new origin story that focused on nanotechnology.

Shane Black is set to direct "Iron Man 3", which will bring back Robert Downey Jr. as the titular superhero a.k.a Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, and Don Cheadle as Rhodey.

The movie is scheduled to kick off shooting in North Carolina this May before continuing in China in late summer. Walt Disney Pictures will release it in the U.S. on May 3, 2013.