IRON MAN 3 Concept Art Shows Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark in Trouble

Filming on the third installment of Marvel Studios' popular Iron Man film franchise is currently underway in Wilmington, North Carolina, in preparation for the film's theatrical release in May 2013.

Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black and based off of a script by Drew Pierce. Robert Downy Jr. will once again reprise his role as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (aka Iron Man); Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are scheduled to return as Pepper Potts and Jim Rhoades (aka War Machine), respectively. Scarlett Johansson will be reprising her Avengers role as Black Widow. Sir Ben Kingsley has been tapped to play the film's central villain, who many have reported to be The Mandarin -- a megalomanic who secretly runs terrorist organizations around the world and wields ten weaponized rings of advanced alien power. Guy Pearce (Prometheus, Lockout) has been cast as geneticist Aldrich Killian. James Badge Dale (Shame, World War Z) will play a villain known as Savin. Ashley Hamilton has been cast as a villain called Firepower, the pilot of an experimental armored suit under the secret mission for the government who clashes with Iron Man.

Aside from principal photography taking place in North Carolina, a bulk of filming will go on in various area of China. Iron Man 3 is scheduled for theatrical release on May 3, 2013. No official synopsis has been released but it is now known that the film's plot revolves around the spread of a virus through nanobots, loosely based on Warren Ellis' six-issue "Extremis" series that introduced a new origin story for Iron Man and focused heavily on nanotechnology.

New concept art for the film, created by artist Ryan Meinerding, has been officially released. Featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark being surprised by machine gun wielding soldiers, the artwork will be handed out to attendees at Marvel's booth at next week's San Diego Comic Con International :