Suited up for his new role in “Iron Man 2,” Mickey Rourke could pass for one of the campy wrestlers from his previous film. Robo-Gladiator? Junkyard Dude?
Actually, the name is Whiplash. He’s one of the villains in the Robert Downey Jr. superhero sequel, due out in May 2010, and we’re hoping director Jon Favreau and his crew aren’t quite done with the costume yet.
“Iron Man” experts weighed in on the tin-can get-up for us, remaining mostly optimistic. “Knowing Favreau is a hard-core Marvel dork, I’m totally at ease,” said self-described fanboy Chris Radtke, editorial VP of the gaming and entertainment site UGO.com. “I give him full benefit of the doubt, and I’m expecting this movie to kick unbelievable ass.”
“I honestly thought of He-Man as soon as I saw it. It’s not only the outfit, but the odd arms-slightly-lifted stance. I don’t know if the resemblance is intentional, but it’s one of those things that, once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Maybe this is Jon Favreau’s tribute to the toys of his youth.” – Graeme McMillan, editor at science-fiction blog io9.com
“My guess is this is a protoype Whiplash, much like how in the first movie Iron Man built his first suit out of junk.” – Chris Radtke, UGO.com
“In the good geeky stuff, like ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and ‘Iron Man,’ they make it more based in the real world. This is very much in keeping with the production design of the first film. It looks like these things could be found anywhere.” — Jeff Ayers, manager at Forbidden Planet comics store