The juggernaut that is Mickey Rourke's comeback looks to have secured another plum acting job.

Just a week after it was reported the new Golden Globe-winning star of The Wrestler had signed to play a key role in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, he is now in line to take on Robert Downey Jnr's Ironman.

In what is great news for fans, Variety says the hardened Rourke and the charasmatic Sam Rockwell (Frost/Nixon) are in talks to play the villains of the next Tony Stark big screen adventure, Ironman 2.



Though the script is apparently still being written by Justin Theroux, the producers want to start shooting as soon as possible, again under the direction of Jon Favreau, with a May 7, 2010 release on the cards.

While a Hollywood Reporter article said Rourke would play a Russian heavy who becomes Whiplash, Variety looks to be closer to the mark.

"Rourke is in discussions to play the Crimson Dynamo, a heavily tattooed Russian arms dealer. He's considered to be an evil version of Iron Man because he battles the superhero in a nuclear-powered suit of armor."



In the comics Whiplash has had a few incarnations, primarily female and none of them Russian, so Crimson Dynamo certainly fits the bill when Rourke is concerned.

The Hollywood Reporter does look on the money when it says Rockwell - a great actor who deserves some shine time - is in line to portray Justin Hammer, a multibillionaire businessman and a rival of industrialist Stark. Though, as someone pointed out, the character actually looks more like an aging James Woods.

Like I said, Rourke and Rockwell look a great pairing against Downey Jnr and Don Cheadle's Jim Rhodes aka War Machine.

What a line-up.