"We've been talking to Jeff for long time," Marvel's president of production Kevin Feige said. "He's excited about doing a movie like this, and we're excited to have him in this particular role. There are many facets to this character which I can't discuss, but looking at the spectrum of all of Jeff's roles, this fits in nicely with the man who played 'Starman,' 'Tucker,' 'Big Lebowski' with a little bit 'Tron' thrown in.
"This rounds out our ensemble, and I think it's one of the strongest casts ever assembled for one of our films."
Bridges' boarding marks the fourth Academy Award-recognized actor signed on for the "Iron Man" cast, which in addition to Oscar nominee Downey includes nominee Terrence Howard and Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow.
Filming on "Iron Man" is scheduled to begin in March in Los Angeles with a planned release date of May 2, 2008.