According to Deadline, James Badge Dale is in talks to co-star opposite Robert Downey Jr. in next year's hotly anticipated threequel "Iron Man 3." And if you have no idea who James Badge Dale is, don't worry.
Because we're about to tell you just why this news is so totally awesome.
First, the deets on "Iron Man 3:" According to the report, Dale will play Eric Savin, a villain who will face off against Downey's armor-clad hero. If you've been paying close attention, Dale marks the third apparent foe for Iron Man, joining Guy Pearce (who will play a nefarious inventor) and Ben Kingsley (who is rumored to play classic Iron Man foe The Mandarin). In the comics, Savin is a cyborg soldier who goes by the codename Coldblood.
So just who is Dale? Like Downey before him, Dale is a late bloomer who appears to be on the verge of suddenly becoming an A-list superstar. After working in film and television for nearly two decades, Dale finally got his breakout role in HBO's acclaimed 2010 mini-series "The Pacific;" since then he's not only headlined his own TV series (the late, lamented "Rubicon,") but he's also co-starred in major films opposite Michael Fassbender (in last year's "Shame"), Liam Neeson (in "The Grey"), Denzel Washington (in the upcoming thriller "Flight") and Brad Pitt (in the hotly anticipated zombie blockbuster "World War Z").
And now with "Iron Man 3" added to that list, there's no question that the days of Dale being an unknown are a thing of the past. Signing tomorrow's stars today?
Now that's the kind of vision we think Tony Stark would be proud of.
