‘Iron Man 3′ Adds A Potentially Radioactive Villain As Actor Wang Xuqei Signs On

It looks as if Tony Stark will be facing yet another villain in Iron Man 3 besides the confirmed big screen debut of the Mandarin, and rumored appearances by the Iron Patriot, Coldblood and Extremis creator Aldrich Killian. Wang Xueqi is apparently joining the cast of next year's Marvel movie in the role of Chen Lu... better known as the Radioactive Man.Wang, who has appeared in such movies as Forever Enthralled and Bodyguards and Assassins, has been linked to the movie by the ChineseFilms.cn website, citing earlier reports from Chinese movie site Mtime.com that the actor had met with Iron Man 3 producer Dan Mintz to discuss the role. "Insiders from Fan Bingbing Work Studio, which Wang works for, confirmed that the meeting was about [Iron Man 3] but that the details will be under wraps until September," ChineseFilms.cn wrote.

Wang will be taking the tole of Chen Lu, a Chinese nuclear scientist perhaps best known in Marvel's comic continuity as a member of the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts. It's unclear whether or not the movie Lu will become the irradiated mutant super villain of the comics in Iron Man 3, especially considering that he actually originally appeared as a Thor villain. Could his first movie appearance be part of a set-up for a later appearance in Thor: The Dark World, due out six months after the third Iron Man movie? That latter movie already has more than its fair share of bad guys, but it wouldn't be the first time that a character debuts in one Marvel movie only to play a more important role in another one further down the line...

Iron Man 3 is due for release on May 3, 2013. Thor: The Dark World is due for release November 8, 2013.