Iron Man set the ball rolling for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Robert Downey Jr. impressed fans with his portrayal of Tony Stark in the first live-action film centered around the Marvel comic book character.
However, it was the success of Iron Man 2 – especially after the underwhelming performance of the MCU’s second movie, The Incredible Hulk – that emboldened the idea of the world-dominating franchise that we know today. Downey Jr. reprised his role, but the recipe for the success included many other ingredients, not least Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash, who was involved in a sequence so dark that Marvel had to dump it from the final cut.
Which Mickey Rourke Scene Was Removed From Iron Man 2
Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark finds himself under a lot of pressure and scrutiny in the sequel after the world becomes aware of his identity as Iron Man and demands a piece of his technology.
Amid this, Ivan Vanko, whose father was a former Stark Industries employee and left to die penniless by Tony’s father, Howard, seeks revenge by attacking the protagonist. Also known as Whiplash, Mickey Rourke‘s character added a lot more emotional depth to the action movie, forcing Tony and viewers to analyze his family’s history and their exploits.
However, it wasn’t very straightforward for Marvel Studios bosses to convince the actor to join their project and then present his character on the big screen without disrupting their vision for the franchise.
According to MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, negotiations between the studio and the actor nearly broke down after they refused to meet his salary demands. As he came close to walking away, Marvel reluctantly increased their offer.
Further, Rourke insisted on going all the way while playing a supervillain wielding whips that crackled with destructive energy. Part of his portrayal included many scenes with a white cockatoo. Reflecting on that, Jon Favreau recalled: “That cockatoo that he has, that wasn’t in the original script.”
Favreau indulged the actor’s idea to keep him happy, and he even shot a scene where Vanko snaps the bird’s neck. However, it was eventually decided that the sequence was too off-putting and it didn’t make it to the theaters.
Mickey Rourke About the Final Version of Whiplash in Iron Man 2
As far as the box office numbers are concerned, Marvel’s decision worked wonders and Iron Man 2 grossed $623.9 million at the box office – surpassing the collection of the original movie.
However, Rourke was far from impressed with how his character turned out to be in the final cut of the movie, which also ended up becoming his only stint in the MCU. He told CraveOnline (via The Hollywood Reporter):
“I explained to Justin Theroux, to the writer, and to [Jon] Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colors, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy. And they allowed me to do that. Unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up on the floor.”
Like Zack Snyder’s cut in the DCEU, it would certainly be interesting to see just what Rourke envisioned for his supervillain with a Russian accent. Alas, Marvel fans are unlikely to ever get to see all those deleted scenes.
