Hey, guys. Quint here with a little update on Herc's great story below... First, regarding Mickey Rourke... I can't confirm his involvement, but I have heard that yesterday's EXPENDABLES story might have been... quite early, to say the least. I'd count his Expendables involvement as more of a maybe, not a definite, so that definitely leaves him open to appear in IM2.

And about who he is playing, if everything my sources inside Paramount have been telling me over the last few months is right, then Variety's assertion that he'll be playing Crimson Dynamo is the right one. I can at least say I've not once heard Whiplash mentioned as a possibility and if you listen to Favreau's statements about the villains coming out of today's headlines then the Russians certainly make more sense than a disgruntled Stark Industries applicant.

That's what I know... Please do continue on below for the full coverage from Herc!

I am – Hercules!!


Mickey Rourke is reportedly in talks to play an "Iron Man 2" supervillain, but there's some dispute as to which.

The Hollywood Reporter says the “Wrestler” star is negotiating to play Whiplash, a character who first appeared to combat Iron Man in 1968's Tales of Suspense #97.

But a story in Variety differs with the Reporter, claiming that Rourke is actually up to play the supersuit-sporting Russian Crimson Dynamo, whose first print appearace was in 1963's Tales of Suspense #46.

The Reporter also says Sam Rockwell ("Frost/Nixon") is up for Tony Stark's multibillionaire rival, Justin Hammer. Hammer first appeared in a 1978 issue of Iron Man. In the funnybooks, Hammer was an arms manufacturer who funded supervillains.

"Iron Man" helmer Jon Favreau starts shooting Justin Theroux's script this spring in anticipation of a May 7, 2010 release.

I’ve been a Rourke fanatic from “Body Heat” through “Diner,” “Rumble Fish,” “Year of the Dragon,” “Johnny Handsome,” “Harley Davidson,” “White Sands,” “Rainmaker,” and “Sin City.” As man and actor, Mickey Rourke rocks, and the idea of Marvel installing him as a key component of one of my favorite big-budget superhero franchises pleases me mightily!

Rockwell, meanwhile, can play anybody -- but it bears noting he already portrayed a sinister genius mastermind in the big-screen "Charlie's Angels."

Read all of the Reporter’s Whiplash-championing story on the matter here.

Read all of Variety's Crimson Dynamo-centric story on the matter here.