Never trust a Hollywood rumor until (a) the deal is inked or (b) the movie in question is in theaters. We’ve heard a lot of back and forth about Mickey Rourke joining the Iron Man 2 cast, him not joining, Marvel lowballing him, etc, etc.
Now Nikki Finke says she’s heard that 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 cautions that the deal may not be fully signed, saying that Marvel won’t confirm until that point. No surprise there.
So this isn’t at 100%, but it’s the best news we’ve had on the subject — a lot better than that shitty paparazzi video from a couple days back. But we might not be done yet…
EDIT: And, in case you’re not in the practice of clicking through to sources, Finke also mentions that Sony was thinking of hiring Rourke for Spider-Man 4. The scant details on this deal don’t specify that such an offer is off the table, but if that’s the case, he’d almost certainly have to be playing different characters in each film, which would cement the unfortunate separation of the Marvel Studios and Sony film universes.