Guy Pearce seems to be up for an extended stay in popcorn blockbuster land.

The Aussie actor will follow up his roles in the sci-fi actioner “Lockout” and Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ prequel “Prometheus”, with that of a villain gig in “Iron Man 3″.

Variety says Pearce will play the geneticist Aldrich Killian.

The Shane Black directed movie has Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Ben Kingsley onboard. Kingsley is playing the main villain.

The character of Killian co-created the Extremis technology that Iron Man adopts after Killian sells it to terrorists, says the trade.

Production on the film begins in May, with lensing to take place around North Carolina.

“Iron Man 3″ is due out May 2013.