One of the key ingredients to most solid Iron Man stories is corporate intrigue. After all, Tony Stark isn't just a warrior with a powerful battle suit, he's a "genius billionaire playboy philanthropist" and all that, which means his enemies are sometimes corporations and don't just have a big fat face he can punch in order to save the day. Or, as suggested by the latest batch of set photos from Iron Man 3 in North Carolina, maybe a familiar Marvel organization totally will in the upcoming film with just that trait! Hit the jump for a potential spoiler.

As photographed by multiple sites around the web including Reel Movie Nation, CBM and On Location Vacations, a big honkin' Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) corporate sign has been discovered on the set of Iron Man 3. Famous in Marvel Comics lore for consisting of evil beekeeper suited scientists who spend an unhealthy amount of their effort building and rebuilding the Mental Organism Designed Only For Killing known as M.O.D.O.K., AIM could take on an entirely different form in the next Iron Man film, perhaps as a legitimate company with super evil intentions? Sites are speculating that instead of constructing a giant-faced creep, AIM will be influenced by Guy Pearce's geneticist character Aldrich Killian and his possible Extremis machinations. That's all well and good, I suppose, since making a movie M.O.D.O.K. would essentially mean the end of The Avengers franchise as audiences and critics alike would surely deem it the pinnacle of superhero film perfection

[Via Spinoff]