So there are rumors flying that Mickey Rourke is in talks to star in Iron Man 2 as the Crimson Dynamo. I don’t know how I feel about this. On the one hand, Rourke is a fine actor who does a good job of playing meat heads. But I think anyone piloting a multi-billion dollar suit of nuclear-powered armor shouldn’t be a meat head. He should be intelligent and a little bit menacing.

I like the idea of using Rourke and his comeback story (courtesy of the critical praise he’s earned from The Wrestler) as a mirror to Robert Downey Jr.’s own career resurrection. But beyond that, it feels like a novelty.

I guess there’s also been reports saying that Rourke could end up playing Whiplash and not the Crimson Dynamo. I see that as a better fit because Whiplash was always a more garish villian. But I think the odds of putting the character in the sequel are slim-to-none. Whiplash was always a second-stringer and the visual appeal of the Dynamo armor is much more interesting.

I’m also not sure what to make of the talk that Sam Rockwell is in talks to play Justin Hammer, a corporate rival to Stark Industries. I like Rockwell in nearly everything he’s been in. He can play a great villain. But I always imagined Justin Hammer to be older. Someone who was jealous of Stark for his genius and his youth. Hammer is the kind of character that felt he should be the bigger fish because he’s been around longer. He doesn’t like Stark because he’s an upstart.

Of course, if you had asked me who I would have cast for Obadiah Stane, I wouldn’t have picked Jeff Bridges, either. So maybe they know what they’re doing.

What do you think about this casting news? Does it get you excited or do you think it’s a gimmick? Or maybe you’re still trying to figure out who Whiplash is. Let me know in the comments!