New ‘Iron Man 2’ Photos Released Ahead of Comic-Con

Comic-Con is upon us and, as fans must already know, among the biggest and most anticipated presences this year is also “Iron Man 2,” starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke. Ahead of the big opening, Marvel has cooked up a surprise for fans, and released a new set of promo shots featuring all the main characters, as USA Today can confirm.

Fans of “Iron Man” don’t have to settle just for the photos, though. As the day when the first minutes of completed footage from the film will be made available is drawing near, meaning the presentation at Comic-Con, the cast, producers and everyone involved is also more willing to dish out details on what fans should expect from it. Mickey Rourke, for instance, is one of the loudest and, therefore, the most appreciated promoter of “Iron Man 2,” as we also pointed out on a different occasion.

On set, Rourke has had some trouble with his Russian accent, as he plays villain Whiplash, who has built for himself a suit very similar to Tony Stark’s. “Damn. That’s a tricky accent. But I wanted to be more than a one-note villain. That might have worked in the old comic-book movies, but not now. Not with these fans.” he tells the USA Today reporter. What he means by “these fans,” the publication says, is the young generation of “nerds” who will be attending Comic-Con in San Diego, ready to take their first impressions straight to Twitter and, from there, out to millions of other fans.

Main star Robert Downey Jr. is also perfectly aware that, unlike with the first “Iron Man,” this time, the bar has been set higher, therefore the pressure is bigger as well. “This is about the toughest group there is to impress. They’re watching your footage, every one of them waiting to Twitter whether you suck.” Downey Jr. shares for the same publication. As a matter of fact, everyone, from Downey Jr. to Director Jon Favreau and Marvel Studio Chief Kevin Feige, knows that the fans will be putting a lot of pressure for this project to be good – better than the first.

“We were an underdog [last year]. People didn’t really know Iron Man, fans weren’t sure Robert was right to play Tony Stark. We had doubters. Now there are a lot of eyes on us. They’re expecting bigger things.” Feige says for USA Today. Judging by the looks of the first batch of promo photos, everybody involved did a very fine job at not disappointing, one might as well add.