Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are in talks to star as the villains in "Iron Man 2," being directed by Jon Favreau, according to media reports from Hollywood Thursday.

Marvel has so far said nothing at all about the script for the sequel which is being written by Justin Theroux, though Rourke is expected to play a tattooed Russian heavy named Ivan who becomes Whiplash, a man with deadly, technologically enhanced coils.

Rockwell would play Justin Hammer, a multibillionaire businessman and a rival of industrialist Anthony Stark, AKA Iron Man, being played by a returning Robert Downey Jr.

The repors said Rourke and Rockwell would be joining a cast that also includes the returning Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle, who is replacing Terrence Howard, making for one eclectically cast summer blockbuster.

The project is eyeing a spring start in Manhattan Beach and the film is expected to be released on May 7, 2010 by Paramount.

(Xinhua/Agencies January 8, 2009)