Johansson and Rourke, who are by no means a couple, fill out an already impressive cast that now includes six Oscar winners or nominees and a Golden Globe nominee. In fact, practically everyone in the cast has been recognized for their acting talent at some point or another.

For those of you who don’t know who Black Widow is, she’s a Russian spy who defects to the United States and eventually becomes a member of the Avengers. It will be interesting to see if the Russian back story is maintained given the end of the Cold War, though given recent tensions it could still be quite plausible.

Iron Man is one of those properties that I’m not very familiar with beyond what I say in the first movie, and according to Wikipedia, it appears as though Whiplash has traditionally been a female. Unless Rourke wants to win the ugliest woman in the world contest, I have to assume that I’m reading the wrong thing or that there are major modifications being made to the character. It is also being reported that elements from Crimson Dynamo will be added to the character.

Fans of the first Iron Man – of which there are many – should be ecstatic at the news. Iron Man 2 now stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwenyth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell, with Tim Robbins rumored to be making a small appearance. That is a hell of a cast, and there’s no reason why the sequel shouldn’t be better than the original.

Iron Man 2 is scheduled to be released on May 7, 2010.