Mickey Rourke, the ne’er-do-well recovering alcoholic uncle I never had who I just want to hug, has signed on to play a villain in Iron Man 2.  Marvel had originally lowballed him with an offer of $250K, but Nikki Finke reports that Rourke’s agent negotiated a “significant” increase.

“I can also tell you that Sony was considering hiring Mickey to play the villain in Spider-Man 4.”

It’s unclear how much we’re supposed to read into that past tense, or whether we’re supposed to be excited about a fourth Spider-Man.  ADDITIONAL INFO FOR NERDS:

“Rourke’s Whiplash will incorporate elements of the Crimson Dynamo’s backstory and appearance, along with elements of the comic book Whiplash, a former Stark employee who builds a costume that allows him to wield cybernetically controlled and electrically charged whips that can cause some serious damage to the Iron Man armour.” [Empire]

They shouldn’t have to mine TWO separate comic book characters to create a part for Mickey Rourke.  The guy has a Clayface, often wears a mustache/soul patch combo, and carries a little dog around in a duffel bag.  Hello?  He’s already a comic book villain.