I'm sorry, but this Iron Man cast just keeps getting better and better. First they ("they" being Marvel Entertainment, Paramount Pictures and director Jon Favreau) went out and hired Robert Downey Jr. to play Tony Stark, and then they added Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow to the equation. Now comes word that four-time Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges has joined the project ... but they won't tell us precisely who he's playing!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Bridges will play "a confidant and close business associate of Stark, a longtime employee at defense contractor Stark Industries who plays a major role in shaping Stark's life." Hmmm, any guesses from the Marvel maniacs out there? Is this an already established character or one created from scratch for the flick? Hell, all I have to know is that Bridges is in the movie, and I'm a happy guy. (I'm of the opinion that Jeff Bridges is one of the planet's most effortlessly entertaining and entirely underrated leading men.)

For his part, Marvel chief Kevin Feige is saying all the right things: "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 (of) Tron thrown in." Aw, Kevin ... you had me at Starman. (Cool trivia: Of the four actors already cast in Iron Man, all have been (at least) nominated for an Oscar. Only one, however, is an Oscar winner.)