10 Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters We Wouldn't Mind Being Recast

By E.F. Camacho / September 29, 2013

4. Mickey Rourke As Omega Red

Mickey Rourke was completely wasted in Iron Man 2. He put on so much effort to create an amazing character amalgamation in Ivan Vanko + Whiplash + Red Dynamo; for much of his role to be left on the cutting room floor. He should have been utilized as Omega Red in a future film (possibly with Deadpool, Wolverine, or both) not portraying Whiplash, nor Red Dynamo; the intermixing of characters in this film, while it worked in general for a mainstream audience, was still a giant lack of foresight. Which is a bold statement, however, one has to wonder if prior to the relationship being broken between the studio and Rourke; if the open end to the story was supposed to lead to a possible Omega Red adaptation. This is a bit of a stretch, and is heavy speculation I admit. Yet, the casting issues weren't a problem of the actor not fitting the role; instead it was misusing him in a weakened amalgamation of a set of roles.

Instead, Whiplash should have been one actor with Red Dynamo portrayed by a completely separate actor in the film. Whiplash should have been utilized as a complete throw away character in the beginning of the film, and Red Dynamo as the main attraction.

Vladimir Mashkov would have been a perfect fit for Red Dynamo, regardless of the story line and character origin changes. For all of you mainstream viewers and readers out there; Ivan Vanko in the Comics is Red Dynamo, but isn't at all Whiplash. That would be Anton Vanko, which the film depicted as Ivan's Father (which is also incorrect). Anton Vanko indeed thinks Iron Man murdered his father (Igor, in the comics), because Iron Man was framed. When he discovers Iron Man was innocent, he ended up helping him for a short time.

These characters were mish-mashed atrociously to fit this film. When it didn't need to be this way. The original creation story for Red Dynamo would have been more compelling and would have potentially introduced Iron Man armors designed for Space that were sorely missed in Iron Man 3 (Red Dynamo's origin occurs with an experiment going wrong orbiting the sun). Whiplash could have been cast by Pasha Lychnikoff altering the story lines if necessary to have him fit in a film with Dynamo attached, the writers could have also kept them related (why not); the film would have been a stronger entry with more immediate leads to the Avengers film that followed. The story as it was for Iron Man 2 was almost completely in a bubble outside of the MCU, and this was done generally speaking due to the origins of the villains.