Iron Man 2 was a hit, but the messy sequel is considered one of Marvel's few misfires. Mickey Rourke's Whiplash has been cited as one of the biggest problems with the movie, something which clearly got under the actor's skin. Following its release, he went on the defensive by claiming Marvel only wanted a one dimensional villain and that most of his performance - which he prepared for by visiting a Russian jail - ended up being cut. Marvel has the final edit on all of their movies, so there's a good chance that Rourke isn't lying. Iron Man 2 was after all crammed full of set up for The Avengers, but this doesn't explain why what fans did see of the actor's performance was so terrible! Even so, he's spent the past five years saying he'll never work with Marvel again (or director Jon Favreau who apparently has no "balls"), so it's probably for the best that he was killed off.
