Marvel Cinematic Universe actors: Mickey Rourke

Iron Man’s Marvel Cinematic Universe rogue’s gallery starts to grow in Iron Man 2. Mickey Rourke portrays Whiplash, a fierce foe with a personal vendetta.

Iron Man 2 digs up the past with Tony’s deceased father’s lasting influence and accomplishments. Ivan Vanko’s father worked with Howard Stark to build the arc reactor but, while Tony reaps the benefits of his dad’s legacy and is a respected public figure, Ivan’s father dies unceremoniously in a small, Russian town. The only things he leaves behind for his son are technological expertise and vengeance.

Mickey Rourke’s sorrowful eyes crack through his hardened exterior when confronted with his father’s death, which quickly turns to a sharp calculated cruelty aimed at Stark. He wants nothing more than to humiliate and destroy the Iron Man. Whiplash’s first bout against his unsuspecting nemesis is electrifying – slicing Tony’s racecar in half in the middle of the Monaco Grand Prix.

After Whiplash gets imprisoned, most of Rourke’s scenes are opposite the dazzling Sam Rockwell. The two are a hoot to watch, as Vanko and Hammer go together like a fake suntan in the dead of winter. They clash over the Hammer Drone designs and amusingly converse about bringing Vanko his bird all the way from Russia.

Vanko is really an amalgamation of Iron Man comic villains Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo, with the latter known to be a Soviet weapons expert. Rourke dials up the thick Russian accent for his antagonistic turn. He utilizes his daunting stare down to intimidate everyone in his presence, including his “partner” Justin Hammer.

Rourke’s tough guy persona has won him many roles over the decades and, although he always kept that mean streak going, once upon a time it was coupled with a romantic side. He is desired by multiple women as one of the guys in Barry Levinson’s semi-autobiographical Diner and most famously stars alongside Kim Basinger in the heavily erotic 9 ½ Weeks. Decades before Fifty Shades of Grey, his character in 9 ½ Weeks is named John Gray.

Rourke also couples with another ’80s sex symbol, Daryl Hannah, in The Pope of Greenwich Village. Although the real relationship at the heart of that story is with two scheming cousins trying to hit it big. Both Rourke and Eric Roberts expand their range in Pope of Greenwich Village, fully investing in their multi-dimensional characters.

Rourke thrives in male-bonding roles, also starring in Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish as Matt Dillon’s older brother. In both Pope and Rumble Fish, he taps into a deeper sensitive mindset that he would not as poignantly exhibit again for another 20 years. Even though the seasoned actor seems to never stop working, there was a long lull in his career where he failed to land a good part in a good movie.

Perhaps his only distinguished performance in the entire 1990s is in Bullet, where he plays the titular violent, ex-con drug dealer. Again, Rourke establishes the foundation of his morally deficient character around male camaraderie, making viewers relate to a generally bad guy through the lens of his friends and brothers.

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A resurgence in Rourke’s career comes courtesy of stylish Texan director Robert Rodriguez. First he casts Rourke as one of the many double-crossing hired guns in Once Upon a Time in Mexico and shortly after calls on him to star in “The Hard Goodbye” storyline of Frank Miller’s Sin City adaptation. As Marv, Rourke achingly tears through the corrupt city after his Goldie is murdered, in his Homeric one man quest for justice. He reprises the role in the sequel, A Dame to Kill For.

His career hits an all-time high in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. Rourke soars as an aging fighter with a long career of flying off the ropes and taking a beating for a living. It is his most personal role, as Rourke himself was once a boxer and has seen his own career decline, with a revitalization in movies like The Wrestler mirroring his Randy “The Ram” persona’s struggle to return to prominence.

Mickey Rourke’s Top 10 Movie Roles

1. Randy “The Ram” Robinson in The Wrestler
2. Marv in the Sin City series
3. Charlie Moran in The Pope of Greenwich Village
4. The Motorcycle Boy in Rumble Fish
5. Robert “Boogie” Sheftell in Diner
6. Butch “Bullet” Stein in Bullet
7. Whiplash/Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2
8. John Gray in the 9 ½ Weeks series
9. Henry Chinaski in Barfly
10. Billy Chambers in Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Iron Man 2 could have been higher on Rourke’s Top 10 list if things worked out a little better between Marvel and Rourke. There were reports that several of his scenes were cut, therefore his development of the villain does not come across as effectively on screen. In response, Rourke has publicly stated his discontent toward the film. So as cool as his Whiplash turned out, the end result is a little thin and probably could have been much better for Rourke and the movie as a whole.

With Whiplash’s demise in Iron Man 2 and Rourke’s dissatisfaction with the project, Rourke is one actor we can bet on never seeing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again. But the superhero genre is vast and shows little signs of slowing down, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the veteran actor signs on to another comic book adaptation in the future.