With the cat still in the bag regarding Mara’s role, MTV News couldn’t help but ask the actress about her specific involvement in the “Iron Man” sequel during an interview at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend. According to the actress, rumors that she’ll play Bethany Cabe are entirely untrue.

“Not that I know of,” she replied when asked if she was playing Cabe. “I don’t know how that started. Maybe because Bethany Cabe has red hair in the comic books and they thought, well, I have red hair. I don’t know, but I don’t play her.”

In fact, it’s likely that Mara’s role isn’t much more than a simple cameo — after all, the actress is only in one scene of “Iron Man 2.”

“It’s a very small part,” she said. “I’m only in one scene, so I don’t know, I don’t want to tell you anything — go see it! Hopefully I’m still in it!”

We know who Gregg is set to play, but Mara’s role is “being kept under wraps.” That’s a bit odd, considering Favreau and company are already shooting in Manhattan Beach. No hints as to who she might play, but I’m intrigued by her casting. We already know that Scarlett Johansson is playing Black Widow and Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Potts, so what other female characters are there?

Mara, who you may remember from Brokeback Mountain (as Ledger’s character’s daughter) or Shooter, plays a character who’s still under wraps. Looking at her, we’re kinda wishing she was a little bit older and had been cast as Mary-Jane in Spider-Man, but we don’t know who she’s playing here.

Mara’s role is being kept quiet for the moment leaving a bit of mystery to a film I am sure will be all but spoiled by the time it actually hits theaters.

Mara’s character identity is being kept under wraps (for now). Gweneth Paltrow is back as Pepper Pots and Scarlett Johansson is playing the Black Widow, so where does Mara fit into this picture? The fact that her identity is being kept secret is very curious.

Of course she may not be playing a character from the comics at all but its always nice to speculate! Internet whispers suggest she may play Sharon Carter(S.H.I.E.L.D agent and girlfriend of Captain America) as a link to the Avengers movie. Personally (thought its highly unlikely) i hope she plays Jessica Drew!

File it under “Actresses Who Should Have played Black Widow” but up-and-comer Kate Mara has been cast in Iron Man 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Mara has previously been seen in Shooter and Entourage, to name a few. She’s not playing Natasha Romanov of course (Scarlett Johansson has that role), so what role is she playing?

That hasn’t been revealed yet. The Reporter says her role is being “kept under wraps”, which makes us think there’s and air of secrecy about it, which then makes us think it’s a really interesting role. Could she be Janet Van Dyne in a post-credits walk-on, a la Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury appearnace[sic] in the first. We have no idea. That’s just our first, random guess. We’ll find out soon enough.

The female addition is what’s really interesting. Kate Mara has joined the cast in an unspecified role. I’m going to just throw out a random guess (based largely on her looks) that she’s playing Bethany Cabe. I can’t believe they’d throw another love interest or action chick into the mix, but Cabe helps to defend Tony against Whiplash and Justin Hammer. She also suits up in some old Iron Man armor alongside Rhodes’ War Machine to battle the giant robot Ultimo. The groundwork is there, but it’s an awful lot of action and romance for one film. Perhaps Cabe will simply show up as Stark Industries’ Head of Security, ready to do her part later on? Maybe she’s just a love interest for Hammer?

Given the secrecy of Mara’s role, it’s entirely likely that she’s playing an important role in the Marvel mythology currently being laid out on film. Whether that means she has a significant part in this movie or an overarching cameo a la Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Iron Man remains up in the air.

The possibilities of who Mara could play seem limitless given the pantheon of female characters in the Marvel Universe. Maybe she’ll star as Janet Van Dyne, better known as the super-tiny superhero Wasp. As Marvel begins gearing up for The Avengers, it might make sense to use Iron Man 2 as a platform to introduce the relatively unfamiliar Wasp to moviegoers.

Then again, as she was announced alongside Gregg’s S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, perhaps Mara will portray Sharon Carter, a fellow government operative and love interest for Steve Rogers, allowing the character to reappear in The First Avenger: Captain America.

I’ve poked a few of my normal sources, and they’re staying quiet so far, which leads me to believe that there may be a reason the role is under wraps.  Is this going to turn out to be some sort of cross-over set-up for another film?  What…. is she The Wasp?  Are we meeting a future Avenger?  Or is this going to turn out to be much ado about nothing?

Kate Mara and Clark Gregg have joined Marvel’s Iron Man 2, being directed by Jon Favreau.  The details of Mara’s role are being kept under wraps. Gregg is returning as Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The same news article also reported this:

Mara has joined Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman and Rainn Wilson in the indie ensemble comedy Peep World. She also booked a recurring stint on HBO’s Entourage, where she plays a potential love interest to Kevin Connolly’s character.

I don’t know about you but I’m really excited about the Iron Man 2 news.  It will be nice to see Kate in another high profile movie.  Maybe she’ll finally get more recognition.