UPDATE: "Iron Man 3" needs a new Iron Lady.

Apparently, being able to play a role in the third stand-along adventure of Tony Stark would require the superpower of bending space and time, and Jessica Chastain — despite rumors to the contrary — does not possess this particular ability with which to manipulate her already packed schedule. Heat Vision reports that the "Take Shelter" star announced the sad news on her Facebook page:

"Sorry to say that 'Iron Man 3' isn't going to work out. My schedule is jammed packed and I can't fit anything else in. The press announced my possible attachment far too soon. I know many of you wanted me to be involved, and I'm so sorry to disappoint you. Hopefully there'll be another Marvel film in my future. Shane Black and everyone on the IM3 team are really wonderful. I'm very excited to see the film when it comes out. xx"

Blast! Jarvis, find us a new leading lady, stat!

- - - - - - - - - - - -

She's in every other movie, so why not also the third adventure of everyone's favorite wisecracking industrialist/ armored superhero?

Jessica Chastain, perhaps the busiest (and, thankfully, one of the most talented) actresses in Hollywood, is making sure there are no empty spaces on her calendar as she's now in talks to join "Iron Man 3," according to Deadline.

The star of "Take Shelter" and about a dozen other movies that came out in the past year will be playing the role of a "sexy scientist every bit as smart as Tony Stark," which means they'll probably be engaged in all sort of flirtatious antagonism fraught with PG-13 sexual tension and subsequent innuendo.

Chastain was actually in the running to join "Iron Man 3" last fall but scheduling conflicts with both "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" and Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" (that seems to be the current title of the movie previously referred to as "Kill Bin Laden"), but now that "Rigby" has been postponed, it looks like Jessica will be able to add the obligatory "comic book movie" to her resume.

Does "Iron Man 3" just keep getting more awesome or what? News of Jessica's casting comes hot on the heels of Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce coming aboard as the film's villains; they all join the returning ensemble of Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson and Don Cheadle in the Marvel adventure set to be written and directed by Shane Black, who helped pave the way for Downey Jr.'s amazing comeback in 2005 with the amazing "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang."

Jessica Chastain will next be seen (heard) in "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," opening June 8, and in John Hillcoat's "Lawless" (formerly "The Wettest County"), opening Aug. 31. "Zero Dark Thirty" will hit theaters on Dec. 19.

"Iron Man 3" is set to open May 3, 2013, exactly 52 weeks after the opening of "The Avengers" on May 4.

Originally published on Monday, April 23, 2012 at 10:52 p.m.