Iron Man 2

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Mickey Rourke has closed his deal to play the Russian villain in "Iron Man 2."

His involvement was expected , but dealmaking was arduous after Marvel Entertainment offered "The Wrestler" star only $250,000 for his first major studio film in years.

Rourke's salary will be now better than that.

While his ICM rep, David Unger, battled for more dough, Rourke's encounters with "Iron Man" star Robert Downey Jr. on the awards circuit sealed his participation in the film.los

Rourke won the Golden Globe and was Oscar nominated for "The Wrestler" and Downey got Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for "Tropic Thunder," so Downey used each occasion to recruit Rourke.

When Downey, Rourke as well as actors including Frank Langella and Anne Hathaway took part in a roundtable discussion with Newsweek's David Ansen, Downey interrupted the proceedings, reached across the table and flat out asked Rourke to do "Iron Man 2."

Rourke also met with Jon Favreau and scribe Justin Theroux and got to be part of the development of his character. He'll play Whiplash, a character that includes elements from that comicbook villain and Crimson Dynamo, another Russian baddie.

Marvel wouldn't confirm Rourke's involvement, but he's planning to join Downey, Sam Rockwell and Samuel L. Jackson, with Scarlett Johansson the frontrunner to play the Black Widow.

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Mickey Rourke has opened up about playing a villain in Iron Man 2.

The Oscar-nominated actor won the role of the sequel's secondary villain, the brawn to Sam Rockwell's brains. Rockwell plays Tony Stark's rival industrialist Justin Hammer, while Empire Online has clarified that Rourke will play Whiplash. (Conflicting early reports had created some confusion as to whether Rourke was playing Crimson Dynamo or Whiplash.)

Rourke told the magazine that he's "having the time of my life!" making the Jon Favreau-directed film. But the job has not been without its challenges, namely the suit of armor that Rourke wears in the film. As the actor explains, "It's been really brutal, because my Iron Man suit weighs 23lb. It's sort of a half-suit, with half my skin showing, with lots of Russian tattoos, because [Whiplash is just] out of a Russian-zone prison."

Marvel's bio of Whiplash, a.k.a. Mark Scarlotti, describes the character as "a brilliant young man with a bright future" at Stark International until he fell in with a bad crowd and ended up developing weapons for organized crime. As a costumed gun-for-hire, Scarlotti found employment with Justin Hammer, who hired the villain to go after rogue employees. Scarlotti began his career as Blacklash before changing costumes and renaming himself Whiplash.

[roshiq]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Rourke told the magazine that he's "having the time of my life!" making the Jon Favreau-directed film. But the job has not been without its challenges, namely the suit of armor that Rourke wears in the film. As the actor explains, "It's been really brutal, because my Iron Man suit weighs 23lb. It's sort of a half-suit, with half my skin showing, with lots of Russian tattoos, because [Whiplash is just] out of a Russian-zone prison."

Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2 :)

[cheebacheeba]

Whiplash is seriously not the main villain in that is he?

[The_Return]

Originally Posted by cheebacheeba

Whiplash is seriously not the main villain in that is he?

From the sounds of things, Justin Hammer's going to be the main villain, presumably with Whiplash as an enforcer of sorts.

Let's face it - we wouldn't be getting many action scenes if it was Hammer alone.

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http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009...ron-man-2.html

[The_Return]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009...ron-man-2.html

Goddamn...does Scarlett Johansson ever look gorgeous as Black Widow!

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Don't expect to see Bruce Banner making a cameo in Iron Man 2.

That's according to Ed Norton anyway, who of course played the scientist/big green monster in last year's The Incredible Hulk.

In a (brief) interview with MTV News at the Toronto Film Festival, the actor was asked about recent rumours suggesting he'd be showing up in Jon Favreau's sequel.

"I heard that. I don't know where that's coming from," he said. "I am not in Iron Man 2 to my knowledge."

The news sounds pretty conclusive and will also cast further doubt over the future of The Incredible Hulk on the big screen in its current guise.

[wufongtan.]

As long as it has downey jnr in it. It'll be good. He is the best actor getting around hollywood at the moment. And thor will be in it. Once they realize that he will attract a lot of gay and "pagan"(lol) film goers.

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Sam Rockwell was at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas this week promoting his hilarious new comedy Gentlemen Broncos, and spoke quite a bit about next summer's Iron Man 2.

"It was great... it was a good time, a lot of fun," he explained of his work on the blockbuster sequel. "It's like the all-stars; like the globe-trotters or something. You know, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth [Paltrow], Scarlett [Johansson] and Robert Downey Jr. And Sam Jackson's there too. It does feel like you're passing the ball with Michael Jordan and then onto Larry Bird."

When asked what would be different this time around, Rockwell said "It's a bigger scope. There's a lot more action and fighting. More characters. It's bigger and there's a lot more to get your head around, so it's a tougher job for [Jon] Favreau and Justin Theroux, who wrote it."

But what of his character, Justin Hammer. "He's a rival of Tony's - they are competitors in the weapons industry. I team up with Michey Rourke and we decide we want to take him down and take down the Stark legacy. He's sort of like a cousin of the Charlie's Angels character I played. The smarmy cousin. But it's Mickey - he does the fighting and the kicking ass in the film."

So has this given Rockwell the superhero bug and could he see himself taking the lead in such a film? "I would love to do something like that. It would have to be a pretty strange superhero. I would love to do that with someone like Duncan [Jones, who directed Rockwell in Moon]. Duncan and I could create something really cool. I would love to create a character like Indiana Jones or something like that."

Iron Man 2 hits cinemas next summer.