Whiplash

Mickey Rourke portrayed Whiplash AKA Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2. The character was a needless amalgamation of both the Ivan Vanko version of Whiplash from the comics (there are several versions) and another Iron Man villain known as the Crimson Dynamo (of which there are many versions, one of whom is called Anton Vanko – the name of Ivan’s deceased father in the movie).

Like so many villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Whiplash was quite hideously underdeveloped. He was one-dimensional, clichéd and boring.

Rourke can’t really be blamed for that, as he requested to add more colour and layers to his character – and Jon Favreau and Justin Theroux allowed him to do that. However, Marvel Studios wanted a less complex villain and a lot of Rourke’s performance ended up on the cutting room floor.

Iron Man 2 was one of the MCU’s weaker offerings as a result and Vanko won’t have the opportunity to develop further, given that he died in the movie’s climatic battle – not that Rourke will care, as he didn’t enjoy his Marvel experience one bit.