Ironman 2 casting simply gold
March 14, 2009 by sgt-pembry
Filed under Action, Movie News, Movies
Scarlet Black Widow?
This Ironman 2 cast just keeps getting better and better. First it was Don Cheadle joining Robert Downey Jnr in the follow-up to the smash hit of 2008, then Sam Rockwell, and now Mickey Rourke and Scarlet Johannson.
I personally reckon that’s a pretty awesome line-up.
Oh, and Gwenyth Paltrow will be there as well, but that’s not important right now.
The rumours that comeback king Rourke and Johannsen would both be playing villains in the film were confirmed last week by Variety.
Rourke’s signing had been mooted for some time, but apparently Marvel Studios needed to be showing him the right kind of cash.
The guy is after all pretty hot right now, with his Academy Award nomination and trendy hair.
Here’s where it gets a bit confusing though.
He will apparently be playing Whiplash, but not the traditional Whiplash from the traditional Ironman comics – that one is actually female.
Rourke’s Whiplash is said to be a composite of the male Whiplash that appeared briefly in an ‘Ultimate Ironman’ edition and another ‘baddie’ called Crimson Dynamo, a Russian arms dealer.
Regardless, there will be little doubt Rourke will get to crack some sort of whip and be as badass as hell – hopefully in the style of a Marv from Sin City, one of the great movie tough guys of recent years.
Johansson will be Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, taking over from Emily Blunt, who was forced to withdraw after a scheudling conflict with Gulliver’s Travels (2010).
Johannson has been tagged with the over-exposure brush in recent times, but I personally haven’t seen alot of her movies. I stopped watching Woody Allen film after Annie Hall in 1978 – in another life.
But, I am looking forward to seeing her slipping into the black leather to portray the man-eating widower, who has been a regular Ironman combatant in the comics, like Catwoman in Batman.
Seeing Rockwell in there as Justin Hammer is fantastic as well, as this guy just doesn’t seem to get enough of the juicy roles that he deserves anymore.
He was great in The Green Mile 10 years ago, and in fact just about anything he’s been in since. It goes without saying he will be great as the billionaire industrialist who is Tony Stark’s rival.
I’m betting seeing Downey Jnr, who was a revelation in the original Ironman movie, going head-to-head with the equally charasmatic trio of Rourke, Johannson and Rockwell will be unbelievable to watch.
Cheadle is just the icing on the cake, playing Stark friend Col James Rhodes, who will double as Ironman ally War Machine.
Terrence Howard (who played Rhodes first) is good, but Cheadle is better. I’ve loved his work ever since he played Denzel Washington’s gun-happy friend in The Devil in the Blue Dress (1995).
Of course with so many characters – two good guys and three bad – Ironman 2 runs the risk of heading down the sad and sorry path of Spider-Man 3, and maybe even into the hell of Batman and Robin territory.
But, with such a ‘truly excellent’ cast and a proven match-winning director in Jon Favreau, who has signed to make The Avengers (2002), the movie is in the safest of hands.
Oh, and did I mention Gwenyth. No, not impressed. Okay, what about Samuel L. Jackson? He’ll be there as well. He’s in everything else.
Filming will begin this April, before a May 7, 2010 release.
Before you go, here’s a litte more of what Johannson might look like in Ironman 2 …
Nice site. There
Thanks for checking it out Rick.
Only 10 posts in, so a lot more to come.
Have a look at http://www.moviecatcher.net to get an idea about what’s in store.