fire. Pearce felt he was "a little more experimental" in the roles he was taking in his career, and was not keen on appearing in a superhero film, but felt his role in this film was "cameo stuff" which was a more enjoyable experience because he was "working in concentrated spurts". Pearce described Killian as a man with physical disabilities who has "never been able to accept those limitations" and works to overcome them, continuing, "His tenacity and blind determination in fighting for a better life are seen by some as irritating, as he often comes across as obnoxious." Black felt that Pearce ultimately is the Mandarin in the film, and that Marvel worked with him "to come up with these crazy things, these far out ideas" that divert from established expectations from the comics. Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen: A geneticist whose work helped Killian create Extremis. Hall said Hansen would be a "strong female character," and described her decision to take the role, saying, "I decided to do Iron Man 3 because I've never done the 'hurry up and wait' movie before. Even the studio movies I've done have been small studio movies, or indie films that we made on a wing and a prayer. I love those, but Iron Man is refreshing in a way because it's something out of my realm of experiences." Hall confirmed her character's role was greatly reduced in the final film, saying, "I signed on to do something that was a substantial role. She wasn't entirely the villain—there have been several phases of this—but I signed on to do something very different to what I ended up doing." Stéphanie Szostak as Ellen Brandt: A war veteran who becomes an assassin after her exposure to Extremis. Describing Brandt, Szostak says, "... [Extremis] was a second chance at life. We talked about what you feel like and I think it almost makes you a fuller version of who you are, all your weakness and your qualities—just everything gets enhanced. I saw it as very freeing, almost you become your true-self and your fantasy-self all at once." The writers originally envisioned Brandt as Killian's main henchman, who would return throughout the film to fight Tony, but eventually, that role was reassigned to Eric Savin. James Badge Dale as Eric Savin: Killian's Extremis-powered henchman. Dale stated that his character in the film was "loosely based on"