Mickey Rourke Joins ‘Iron Man 2′ as Crimson Dynamo?

Published by Jeff Leins on January 7, 2009

Updated: Sam Rockwell is also in talks to join the cast. See below for details.

Mickey Rourke is in discussions to play a villain in Iron Man 2.  The script is still being completed, but already casting decisions are underway for the targeted May 7, 2010 release date.  Director Jon Favreau begins shooting this spring.

According to Variety, Rourke’s character is described as “Tony Stark’s Russian alter ego, a heavily tattooed bruiser who is in the arms trade and battles Iron Man in his own nuclear-powered armored suit.”  The trade continues that all signs point to the comic book villain the Crimson Dynamo.

The Hollywood Reporter has a conflicting idea though.  That trade says Rourke plays a man named Ivan, who becomes the villain Whiplash.  I’m thinking THR might be a bit confused.

In November, a cast list of brief descriptions suggested a Russian nemesis and speculation ran wild that the Crimson Dynamo would appear along with the Black Widow, a beautiful female spy.  Here is a brief origin story of the character from Wikipedia, the best source for journalism:

The first Crimson Dynamo was also the creator of the armor: Professor Anton Vanko. A Soviet scientist of Armenian birth with a PhD, Vanko was the world’s foremost expert on electricity. He built a suit that was wired up to perform electric miracles, making him a human dynamo. The Crimson Dynamo battle-suit allowed him to control electricity in all of its forms, allowing him to fire devastating bolts of electricity. It also allowed him to fly. According to the site, there have been 12 different Crimson Dynamos.

But the Hollywood Reporter did add the announcement of Sam Rockwell joining the cast.  Rockwell would play Justin Hammer, a multibillionaire businessman and a rival of Tony Stark (Iron Man).

Two armored suits fighting again seems a bit like the Iron Monger battles in the original.  Plus it means the delayed introduction of the villain Mandarin.  But Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell as possible members of the cast cast sounds pretty awesome.

What do you think?  Love the news?  Hate it?