MCU: 10 Fascinating Facts Behind Iron Man 2 (2010)

Mar 27, 2019 Updated: March 27th, 2019

1. Vanko's Loki Tattoo

As well as all of his parrot work, Mickey Rourke threw himself into preparing for his performance as Ivan Vanko. He went to Russia to research his role, including finding out which tattoos he should have on his body.

He wanted authentic Russian tattoos as much as possible to reflect Vanko's heritage, his time spent in prison and any gang or group affiliations it would make sense that he would have.

One tattoo on his neck shows a Russian schooner, with Russian script next to it saying "Give me a blond, a bottle and a boat and I'll sail away..." That one's Rourke's favourite, but the fan favourite ink didn't make it into the film. At one point he had a tattoo of Loki on his neck, but Marvel decided it was too confusing and that fans would think the pair were in some way affiliated, so it was cut out.