'Iron Man 3' Set For Star-Studded San Diego Comic Con Appearance

There's just no time quite like summer to be a geek.

If the gaming industry's E3 cavalcade of early-June revelations for the next 12 months is our Christmas, then San Diego Comic Con is like Santa Claus stopping by your New Year's party. And this year, the jolly fat bastard is stuffing stockings with words of assurance from the good Marvel people behind "Iron Man 3."

It's not known just what reveals await fans in SDCC's prestigious San Diego Convention Center Hall H July 14, but the teasers and reveals are expected to be unfurled by producer Kevin Feige and "special guests," E! Online reports.

Just how "special" are we talking? Well, this is "Iron Man," after all. And thus far, the likes of star Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Cobie Smulders and Guy Pearce are all confirmed for this ride with Tony Stark.

Go ahead. Fill in a few blanks.

Not many details have emerged so far, but screenwriter Gabe Toro recently confirmed that Kingsley will play some version of Marvel universe scourge the Mandarin, who could absolutely be considered Stark/Iron Man's most formidable nemesis. Toro added that Mandarin will be throwing in his lot with Chen Lu, AKA Radioactive Man.

It's just not yet publicly known who's now playing Lu, since Andy Lau recently bowed out of production.

That being said, Feige and new director Shane Black have claimed this "Iron Man" will largely stand alone rather than function as the start of a build toward a sequel to "The Avengers" or as a lead-in to "Thor 2" and "Captain America 2."