Whiplash Iron Man Mayhem Teased with First Official Photo

Whiplash is an Iron Man nemesis about to get his due on screen, thanks to Mickey Rourke. Whiplash has his own suit of armor like Iron Man, but Whiplash has a lot more upper body strength than Tony Stark, at least with Rourke playing him. After coming back from movie skid row with The Wrestler, Rourke is going into the Iron Man world as Whiplash and back to big budget blockbusters. The first look at Whiplash is only part of the Iron Man 2 buildup as shooting begins.

Director Jon Favreau released the first official photo of Whiplash from Iron Man 2, showing Rourke with metal braces, a familiar looking electromagnetic chest, lots of tattoos, and half of a prison jumpsuit.

Whiplash is the supervillain alter ego of Russian genius Ivan Vanko. The photo of Whiplash has several tattoos of Russian phrases, not unlike Viggo Mortenson in Eastern Promises.

Whiplash is one Iron Man villain for the new film, but he is not expected to be the only one. The official plot has not been released yet, though suffices to say that it should continue Tony Stark and Iron Man's fight against crime, after Stark reveals his 'secret' identity.

As the Iron Man sequel begins filming, some representatives from big-time nerd websites were invited to get a look at the set a few weeks ago. Of course, no secrets or previews could be posted by any of the sites.

But the buzz around the set was that Iron Man 2 would continue to stress character over spectacle - though with a fair share of spectacle. Last year, Iron Man came out of almost nowhere to be the biggest non-Dark Knight hit of the summer. This time next year, Iron Man 2 will kick off summer 2010 with even higher hopes.

Whiplash and Rourke are helping Favreau, Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow out on that task, along with fellow Iron Man newbies Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, and Don Cheadle.

Whiplash and Iron Man officially go to war in Iron Man 2 starting on May 7, 2010. Until then, the buzz around the set will continue to grow, as fans will wait patiently - and not so patiently - for actual footage to go along with these first pictures.

Sources

E! Online- "First Look: Rourke Gets Whiplash in Iron Man 2" www.eonline.com/uberblog/b128414_first_look_rourke_gets_whiplash_in_iron.html

CHUD- "SET VISIT PREVIEW: IRON MAN 2" www.chud.com/articles/articles/19736/1/SET-VISIT-PREVIEW-IRON-MAN-2/Page1.html