From the moment that Mickey Rourke's name was brought up in connection with "Iron Man 2," the exact identity of his character has been up for debate. Some reports peg him as Whiplash, while others say he'll play Crimson Dynamo. Still others think it's an amalgamation of the two.
[UPDATE - 6/9: The first image of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash for "Iron Man 2" has hit the 'Net!]
Now, a new interview with Rourke is putting that very question at the forefront once more -- which character is he playing? According to The Guardian, the actor will star in the "Iron Man" sequel as "Tony Stark's tattooed Russian nemesis, Ivan," which is the name of the fourth Crimson Dynamo's father.
It's also worth mentioning that Ivan Petrovich was partners with fellow Russian agent Natasha Romanoff, more commonly known as the Black Widow -- the sultry spy played by Scarlett Johansson in the superhero flick.
Whether or not Rourke is Whiplash, Dynamo or a combination, there's no question about his character's nationality. As previously reported, Rourke has spent time in Russian prisons in order to research his role for the Jon Favreau-directed feature, and the actor even revealed to the Guardian that he'll be speaking Russian in the film.
"I decided to do half my role in Russian," said Rourke. "And that's hard because the Russian language doesn't roll off the English-speaking tongue very easily. I spent three hours a day with a teacher, and after two weeks I know four sentences!"
One of those sentences, the actor continued, loosely translates to say: "If someone kills me, don't wake me up, because I'd rather be dead than live in your world."
So at least we know that Rourke is bringing his signature spine-tingling dialogue into the Marvel movie, even if we're not completely sure as to which character he's representing. But given his comments in this interview, there's one film project we are fairly certain that Rourke will avoid -- the "Spider-Man" franchise, which he was connected to at one point.
"I'm not big on formula movies," the actor stated. "I don't like all that Spider-Man s---."
Are you excited for Mickey Rourke's Russian performance, be he Whiplash or Crimson Dynamo? Do you have a preference as to which character he plays?