Mickey Rourke eyes parts in Iron Man 2 and The Expendables

As Mickey Rourke celebrates his best-actor win at the Golden Globes for his triumphant gamble in The Wrestler, news of his return to studio filmmaking shouldn’t come as a surprise. The current comeback kid is circling parts in both Iron Man 2 and The Expendables, the latter of which is an increasingly buzzed action flick that will also star Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li and Forest Whitaker.

In Iron Man 2, Rourke is in talks to play a Russian arms dealer and potential villain said to be an alter ego of Tony Stark (/Film has details). He will evidently also play an arms dealer in The Expendables, which follows a group of mercenaries in South America with their eyes on a dictator. Stallone will write and direct.

The twin reports signal that Rourke, who had a long and well-publicized fall from stardom, is once again a sought-after (and insurable) actor in the eyes of the Hollywood mainstream. 

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