Robert Downey Jr., left, and Susan Downey (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

The tiny town of Kenansville, N.C., will be a silver screen stand-in for Chattanooga in the 2013 blockbuster "Iron Man 3."

Kenansville, a town of 850 about 55 miles north of Wilmington, N.C., was the site of filming earlier this week, according to reports in the Jacksonville (N.C.) Daily News.

For the next several months, Pink Hill, N.C., also has been dolled up to look like Chattanooga for other scenes in the movie, according to the newspaper.

When "Iron Man 3" debuts May 3, 2013, Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as the series' armored suit-wearing super hero alongside co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany, Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley.

The first two Iron Man films have grossed more than $1.2 billion at the box office.

Read tomorrow's Times Free Press for more information.