Don't call it a comeback, but Mickey Rourke is about to have a very busy schedule. After agreeing to join the cast of The Expendables, The Wrestler star is in talks to join the hit sequel Iron Man 2. While it seems Rourke will play a villain, which villain he will play is uncertain.
According to the The Hollywood Reporter, Rourke will play "a tattooed Russian heavy named Ivan who becomes Whiplash, a man with deadly, technologically enhanced coils," while Variety reports that Rourke will play the Crimson Dynamo, "a heavily tattooed Russian arms dealer" who fights in a nuclear powered suit of armor. Either way, Rourke will be tattooed and Russian.
Sam Rockwell will also play a villain, a multibillionaire rival of Tony Stark named Justin Hammer. Both parts are consistent with a recent casting notice that called for a Russian "bruiser" (Rourke?), and a "brilliant, gritty Eastern European" (Rockwell).
The part of Natasha, Tony Stark's assistant and The Black Widow, is still up for grabs, says The Hollywood Reporter.