MCU: 10 Things You Might Not Know About IRON MAN 2 - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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MCU: 10 Things You Might Not Know About IRON MAN 2

Geek Dave wants to join the super-secret boy band...


1. To keep various aspects of the production of Iron Man 2 secret, the official fake working title from Marvel Studios was Rasputin. Two more fake titles were also used during additional photography: Murphy's Law and The Adventures of Angus McDonald - I want to see that movie!

2. When it came to cast Black Widow, many actresses were first considered including Jessica Biel, Gemma Arterton, Natalie Portman, Jessica Alba, Eliza Dushku and Angelina Jolie. Scarlett Johansson wanted the role so badly that she dyed her hair red before she even got the part - it didn't work! Well, not initially, as Marvel cast Emily Blunt to play Black Widow. Reluctantly she had to pull out due scheduling conflicts with her movie Gulliver's Travels. And ScarJo got the call.


3. Before Sam Rockwell was cast, Al Pacino was considered for the role of Justin Hammer.

4. Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Lt. Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes. Entertainment Weekly stated that director Jon Favreauhad  not enjoyed working with Howard, often re-shooting or cutting his scenes from the first Iron Man movie. Howard himself simply claimed that his contract wasn't honored. It seems that Marvel had gone to Howard and asked him to accept a pay-cut for appearing in the sequel. Howard stated,
"Apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren't worth the paper that they're printed on sometimes. Promises aren't kept, and good faith negotiations aren't always held up."
Howard had been the first actor cast for the original Iron Man, and was actually paid the most (a reported $6 million!). Marvel wanted to renegotiate that figure, with, as Howard stated in a later interview, the studio offering him far less and telling him the second Iron Man film would be successful, "with or without you," and, without mentioning him by name, said Robert Downey Jr "took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out."


5. Although Mickey Rourke spent several months on a treadmill and weight training, he initially was still unable to move around and use the whip prop in the Whiplash outfit test due to its sheer weight. To get around this problem, Rourke would wear heavy vests in subsequent physical training sessions to accustom his body in moving while wearing the weighty armor.

6. A lot of Whiplash's identifying features were actually suggested by Rourke himself. He wanted to perform half of his role in Russian, and consulted on the character's tattoos and gold teeth as well as having a pet cockatoo. In fact, Rourke paid for the bird and the gold teeth out of his own pocket.


7. A tattoo on Vanko's torso shows a Russian schooner, bordered with Russian script reading:
"Give me a blond, a bottle and a boat and I'll sail away..."
This particular tattoo is Mickey Rourke's favorite.

8. While training for the fight scene in Monaco, Mickey Rourke couldn't get the hang of the whips, so the production team would play music for him to get a rhythm going. When filming in Monaco they had Gnarls Barkley's Crazy playing over the speaker system for him to get the rhythm.


9. Although he's become synonymous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Samuel L Jackson almost didn't return to play Nick Fury for Iron Man 2. He was upset with his character's lack of screen time in the original draft, and claimed he was assured much more when he agreed to his (uncredited) cameo in the first Iron Man film. After contract negotiations, additional scenes were written in for Jackson's character and he secured a landmark nine-picture deal to play Nick Fury in multiple other Marvel Studio productions.

10. In the original ending, Whiplash was revealed to have survived the explosion. He then attacked Tony and Pepper before finally being killed by Rhodey. Marvel requested a change to a more ambiguous situation because they were so impressed with Mickey Rourke's portrayal they wanted to have the option to bring back Whiplash for future movies.

Something which, obviously, hasn't happened. Yet...

Previously
10 Things You Might Not Know About Iron Man
10 Things You Might Not Know About The Incredible Hulk

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