On the heels of a very successful return to the big screen in “The Wrestler”, Mickey Rourke has been selected to play Whiplash in Iron Man 2.

Variety is reporting that the 56-year-old actor had reportedly been offered only $250,000 to play the role. On Feb. 18, New York magazine reported that the deal seemed to have fallen apart, although sources told EW the next day that it wasn’t necessarily dead yet. Rourke’s agents have since renegotiated his deal, Variety says, but there’s no word on exactly how much he’ll be paid. Rourke will play a Russian character called Whiplash, using elements from another comic book bad guy, Crimson Dynamo.

Rourke recently scored an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, in “The Wrestler”. That was a movie about a once headlining professional wrestler who, now at the end of his career, makes his way through the independent circuit, trying to get back in the game for one final showdown with his former rival.

This story doesn’t necessarily relate to wrestling, except for that fact that Rourke has been welcomed into the wrestling world with open arms for his dead-on portrayal of a has-been wrestler in “The Wrestler”, plus he is going to be in attendance in WrestleMania 25, and have some role in a match with Chris Jericho.