UPDATED: Iron Man 2 - Mickey Rourke as Crimson Dynamo or Whiplash. Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer

Earlier today I posted that he was cast in Stallone's The Expendables now Marvel has just announced that Mickey Rourke is in talks to join Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2. First Showing had the news.

He is in discussions to play a villain 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. Going from what is known about the comic book this certainly sounds like the Crimson Dynamo.

All in all it's not been a bad couple of years for Mr Rourke. The Wrestler is getting rave reviews and he's got some big films lined up.

UPDATE 08/01/09: THR says that Rourke could be playing Whiplash - “Whiplash designed two cybernetically controlled whips that could be converted into nunchakus or vaulting poles. The whips could be spun so fast that they could even blow Spider-Man’s webbing away from Scarlotti preventing him from being ensnared. As both Whiplash and Blacklash, Scarlotti used a necro-lash which could be electrically charged by his gauntlets, released from its handle to deliver a concussion charge, or he could turn up the electric charge to its maximum which caused anything it hit, including Iron Man’s armor, to become brittle. He also used anti-gravity bolas, heavy gravity bolas, and various other devices also of his own design.

Also /film mention that Sam Rockwell is also in talks to play Justin Hammer, a multibillionaire businessman and a rival of industrialist Tony Stark. Hammer first appeared in Iron Man #120 in 1978, and has since remained a frequent adversary of Iron Man. Hammer has a genius-level intellect and has access to various forms of advanced technology designed by his technicians. He finances criminals, asking for fifty percent of the illegal profits in exchange for any bail costs and weaponry and equipment replacement. Hammer also invented a device called the hypersonic scan transmitter, which allowed him to take control of Iron Man’s armor, causing him to kill the Carnelian ambassador, and set an army of superhuman criminals against Iron Man.

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Iron Man 2 Casting News - Black Widow and Crimson Dynamo may appear

From io9 - Iron Man 2 is ramping up, and the movie's put out a casting call for two important new characters. They're not named, but their most likely identities are sure to excite old-school fans of shellhead. Click through for spoilers.

According to the ODI, the Iron Man sequel is putting out a call for two lead characters in the new movie: a brilliant, gritty Eastern European man in his thirties, and a beautiful, athletic woman in her thirties who speaks several languages and is great at martial arts. They're not named, but we're guessing the man is Crimson Dynamo and the woman is Natalia Romanova or Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow.

It would make sense for those two to appear together, since they're both Soviet/Eastern European characters. And the long list of people to wear the Crimson Dynamo armor has included the Black Widow's ex-partner, and another ex-partner's son.

In any case, these casting calls — plus a call for a "Russian bruiser," a smaller role — suggest that Tony Stark will be spending some time in the former Soviet Union. Expect Russian gangsters, ex-Soviet nukes and other hardware, and maybe some angsty discussions of Stark International's role in arms proliferation in the region. [The ODI]

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