Mickey Rourke as Whiplash for 'Iron Man 2'

In the upcoming 'Iron Man 2' movie Mickey Rourke will be taking on the role of the villain as Whiplash. In the picture (right) we get a first look at what Whiplash will look like in the movie. Here he is appearing at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. The picture came in courtesy of USA Today.

Whiplash will wear a suit that seems related to Iron Man's. Director Jon Favreau had this to say, "The technologies are definitely related, and that's part of the core theme of the film." Rourke will play the role of Ivan Vanko, an ex-con Russian who in the words of Favreau "has constructed his own version of a suit." As the name indicates Whiplash will use whips as weapons and will be similar to Iron Man's, hence the chest peace for powering the suit.

Favreau refused to say whether Whiplash will be a weapons designer like in the comics, working for Justin Hammer who will be played by Sam Rockwell. Justin Hammer is a competitor of Tony Stark and Iron Man. Favreau did mention the following "We like to play into and against the expectations that people might have so, we mixed it up a bit."

The performances in 'Sin City' and 'The Wrestler' by Rourke made an impression on Favreau. He then added the following "Robert has a tremendous screen presence. So it was very important that the villain be as compelling as can be. … Once I thought of Mickey in that role, it made me understand how to shape the story."