Iron Man 3 Director, Producer, Actress Zero In on Maya Hansen

New information about the plot of Iron Man 3 have hit the Web today from a variety of sources. Not only did Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle spill some scintillating details to Entertainment Weekly, but other cast and crew members are out in force. Hard to imagine that the film is still months away. In the new issue of Empire Magazine (via CBM), which focuses on superhero and comic book movies, director Shane Black and actress Rebecca Hall dished on the role of Maya Hansen, the character played by Hall in the anticipated Marvel sequel. "I've never had a huge desire to be a massive Hollywood actor," Hall told Empire. "Yet this is the third installment of a series I've really enjoyed, I really like Downey as an actor, and it looked like it would be fun. And it was. It was a very smart set, Iron Man. There's a whole game of wits going on all the time between Downey and Shane [Black]." "It's one thing we loved about the comic book, which was that it's someone Tony meets in one capacity at one point in his life, and he proves to be touched by that encounter," said Black, who directed the film. "We needed a snappy and exciting actor to play the part, and not make it this 'female scientist who takes off her glasses and suddenly she's beautiful!' There's a certain element about her being the female Robert Downey Jr in a way." That last bit, presumably, takes some of the sting out of being another nerd stereotype of the hot girl who isn't "hot" with glasses on. And makes sense in the context of who she is. If it's anything like the recently-rebooted Marvel NOW! version of her character, Hansen will play a small but important role, which is about right from what everyone seems to be saying. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige elaborated, "Maya is a scientist who makes a pretty astounding discovery that leads her to places - and some are healthier than others. It's not dissimilar to what Tony's been through, and it's a great parallel."