Iron Man 2 is ramping up, and the movie's put out a casting call for two important new characters. They're not named, but their most likely identities are sure to excite old-school fans of shellhead. Click through for spoilers.

According to the ODI, the Iron Man sequel is putting out a call for two lead characters in the new movie: a brilliant, gritty Eastern European man in his thirties, and a beautiful, athletic woman in her thirties who speaks several languages and is great at martial arts. They're not named, but we're guessing the man is Crimson Dynamo and the woman is Natalia Romanova or Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow.

It would make sense for those two to appear together, since they're both Soviet/Eastern European characters. And the long list of people to wear the Crimson Dynamo armor has included the Black Widow's ex-partner, and another ex-partner's son.

In any case, these casting calls — plus a call for a "Russian bruiser," a smaller role — suggest that Tony Stark will be spending some time in the former Soviet Union. Expect Russian gangsters, ex-Soviet nukes and other hardware, and maybe some angsty discussions of Stark International's role in arms proliferation in the region. [The ODI]

Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at charliejane@io9.com.