Since production details regarding director Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 first started to trickle out back before filming began, we’ve known that Marvel has been planning to shoot some scenes in China.  This decision made perfect sense as the film’s villain, played by Ben Kingsley, was rumored to be the half-Chinese half-English comics character The Mandarin, and China’s DMG Entertainment was mulling a co-production deal with Marvel on the film.  Filming on the superhero sequel started up this past June in North Carolina, but throughout the long shoot filming never moved over to China.

Now it appears that, just five months out from release, Black and Co. are gearing up to do some additional filming in Beijing as Chinese actor Wang Xuequi has joined the cast.  Hit the jump for more details, including a couple of new images.

Iron Man 3 has been selected as one of the twenty-five U.S. films to be released in China, and the movie will be co-financed by Chinese production company DMG Entertainment.  In a nutshell, this deal is good for Marvel because: A) It means the production will probably have more money; B) DMG Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company China will be distributing the movie in China, which is a huge audience and therefore huge profits; C) It makes inroads with Chinese audiences for future Marvel movies.  Since China only wants tentpole movies, and they tend to want them in 3D, this deal pretty much confirms that Iron Man 3 will either be shot or post-converted into 3D, which will most likely in no way improve the movie.  The press release also mention that some of Iron Man 3 will be shot in China in late summer 2012.

Hit the jump for the press release and a recap of what Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios’ President of Production, had to say about Iron Man 3 and other upcoming Marvel releases.  Iron Man 3 is due out in the U.S. on May 3, 2013.