Is he in or is he out?
That seems to have been the question as to Mickey Rourke’s participation in next summer’s Iron Man 2. Well, now it seems that he is back in, according to Nikki Finke. On her blog, the Hollywood business writer reportes that “after at first being low-balled by the studio to the tune of $250K, Rourke has signed on for the role of the Russian villain in the sequel after his agent David Unger got the quote up to a “significant” level.” Finke also reports that Marvel won’t officially announce anything until all the contracts are signed, so consider this all at the level of “reasonably reliable rumor.”
Finke also reports that Scarlett Johannson is being set to take role of Russian spy/costumed hero the Black Widow. As is her usual MO, Finke spends most of her post obsessing over whether Johannson’s agent got her a good deal or not. However, she does mention that that deal will include Johannson’s participation in The Avengers superhero team-up film set for Summer 2011.
