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SEGA of America announced plans today to make and release a video game based on Iron Man 2. Intended to be released across several gaming platforms, this is the second Iron Man game that SEGA has made (the first was released last year in conjunction with the Paramount film.) The new game is being developed by SEGA Studios San Francisco.

"We are thrilled to build on the success of the Iron Man phenomenon and work with Marvel and Paramount on another epic project," said Simon Jeffery, president of SEGA of America, Inc. "SEGA and Marvel are collaborating closely to ensure we deliver an authentic Iron Man experience."

While speaking with MTV, Robert Downey Jr. addressed the talk concerning Mickey Rourke in talks to join the cast of the sequel. Downey seems to know something about what role Rourke is up for -- but he's not coming completely out and saying who that character is. When Downey was directly asked if Rourke was playing the Crimson Dynamo, a part that he's been rumored for, the actor said "That's actually incorrect." The MTV reporter then followed up by asking if Rourke's character was instead Whiplash, the other supervillain mentioned, and that's when Robert started to clam up.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that," said Downey. "Or maybe it's some semblance of both. Here, I can tell you everything about the story except I won't give away the ending. The nerd stuff is top-drawer security."

In these days of financial doom and gloom news there are plenty of stories about ways corporations are cutting the fat to stay afloat. Variety's Michael Fleming points out that Marvel Studios isn't any different than most companies out there trying to save a buck, but if Fleming's story is true that Marvel made a first offer to Mickey Rourke of just $250,000 to star in Iron Man 2, then that's a very frugal offer indeed. Furthermore (and as Fleming speculates) that kind of negotiation tactic may be precisely why Samuel L. Jackson might not be coming back to play Nick Fury in the sequel.

Sam Rockwell is a done deal for Iron Man 2 in the role of Justin Hammer and that comes straight from the actor's own lips. Rockwell was speaking to MTV's Splash Page and told the world he's going to get a paycheck cut by Marvel Studios.

"Yeah, he's a rival," Rockwell told the site. "He takes over all the weapons stuff after Tony's left." Tony's left? Whaaaat? What do you mean by that Sam?

"I don't know if he [Justin Hammer] takes over Stark Industries," Rockwell added. "I'm not really sure yet. He's a money dude. That's all about I can say."

Here's a fun trivia fact: Rockwell's real-life girlfriend is actress Leslie Bibb who played reporter Christine Everheart in the first Iron Man.

According to Variety, actress Emily Blunt is the leading candidate to play the Black Widow in Iron Man 2. As depicted in Marvel comic books, the character is a red-haired, Russian-born beauty by the name of Natasha Romanoff who wears a skintight black costume accented with various high tech doodads. You can see where her superhero name comes from, right?

Blunt's most recent credits include Charlie Wilson's War, The Jane Austin Book Club and The Devil Wears Prada. She will be seen this coming November opposite Benecio Del Toro in The Wolf Man.

Samuel L. Jackson may not be seen in Iron Man 2 even though the last movie ended with almost a guarantee that he would be included in the role of SHIELD director Nick Fury. |I saw Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards and we had a conversation. He said, 'I hope things are working out for you because we're writing stuff for you,'" Jackson told The Los Angeles Times. "Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager and things aren't really working that well."

What happened? "There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don't know. Maybe I won't be Nick Fury. Maybe someone else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won't be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], 'We're not making that deal.'" [Full story]

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) and Sam Rockwell (Choke) are in talks to star in Iron Man 2 as villains. Variety is reporting that Rourke's character is "a heavily tattooed bruiser who is in the arms trade and battles Iron Man in his own nuclear-powered armored suit," and that sounds a lot like the Crimson Dynamo to us. Strangely, The Hollywood Reporter said that Rourke's character is a tattooed Russian called Whiplash who has "deadly, technologically enhanced coils." In the end it sounds like there can be only one trade magazine that will get the scoop right.

Reporter also added the talk that Rockwell is thinking about joining the sequel as Justin Hammer, a rival industralist to Tony Stark, and that casting is underway for the part of Natasha, an aid to Stark. Could this be the movie version of Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. The Black Widow? [Full story]

Iron Man 2 screenwriter Justin Theroux spoke with MTV's Splash Page about the rumors that the amount of screen time for Jim Rhodes/War Machine in the sequel is being scaled back in light of the recasting of Don Cheadle in the part. As far as Theroux knows, that isn't the truth. "I can't really speak to the plot stuff and all the rest of it but Rhodes is completely present in a very strong and big way," the writer told the site. "He's completely present."

Theroux went on to comment on a recent Entertainment Weekly report which said that Rhodes was being scaled back in the story. "All that stuff that was in the EW article, I don't know. I can only tell you what I know which is that from a writing standpoint we didn't do anything differently [with the character]. It's not like we were sitting there going, we need less of this or that. We just approached the characters and the story on their own terms."

Robert Downey Jr. has finally weighed in on the recasting of Terrence Howard's character in the Iron Man sequel. Speaking to Comic Book Movie (and as brouight to our attention by Filmstalker), the man who will portray Marvel's shellhead superhero in at least two more Iron Man films as well as The Avengers spoke publically about how the fallout of the surprise announcement has affected him.

"I had nothing to do with that decision," Downey told the website. "I love Terrence very very much. That's all I'll say because I haven't talked to him yet."

Downey also commented on the hiring of Don Cheadle to fill the shoes of Rhodey in IM2. "I’ve always admired Don [Cheadle]. It’s one of those situations where I still don’t quite know what happened or why. Here’s what happens too: things happen and you wind up commenting on them before you’ve actually talked to the people and it’s in poor taste."

He also talked about how the mindset is of the Iron Man 2 team in approaching the project and the weight that they feel to make a second movie worthy of the love given to the first. "I think the important thing with the Iron Man franchise is to not do too much too soon and to make sure we don’t piss off the public that put us in the position we’re in," Downey said. "We’ve just got to keep rolling up our sleeves higher and further up the elbow. If we show up and we’re in the right head space and our heart’s in the right spot and we really think about the audience at every turn and we don’t try to stamp our hipness onto anything."

Marvel Studios has now confirmed the casting of Don Cheadle as Rhodey and Jon Favreau as director of IM2.

"We are very excited about working with the extraordinarily talented Don Cheadle as we expand the role of Rhodey in Iron Man 2," Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, said in a press release. "It has already become apparent as we prep the movie for production, that the dynamic between Robert and Don will take Iron Man 2 to new heights."

Marvel chose not to address the circumstances for Terrence Howard not returning in the sequel. The company also chose the occasion to drop the news that both Robert Downey Jr. and Cheadle will play their characters in the Avengers movie slated for release on July 15, 2011. Downey has signed a four-picture deal with Marvel (which includes the first Iron Man movie.)

Now it's Terrence Howard's turn to give his thoughts on the fallout from last week's revelation that he won't be coming back in Iron Man 2. Speaking with NPR, Howard addressed the decision by Marvel to hire Don Cheadle to play Rhodey in the second movie, and what he had to say might come as a surprise:

It was the surprise of a lifetime," Howard said in the interview. "[The contract] just up and vanished. I read something in the trades implicating that it was about money or something, but 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."

So what's the real story here, and will it ever eventually come out?

Terrence Howard will not be reprising his role as Colonel James Rhodes in Iron Man 2; instead, the part will be played by Don Cheadle (Traitor, Hotel Rwanda, the Ocean's Eleven films). The Hollywood Reporter is saying that "sources close to the deal said negotiations with Howard fell through over financial differences, among other reasons." When asked to comment about this breaking news Marvel Studios chose not to.

The loss of Howard is unusual for several reasons. During production of the first Iron Man it was mentioned on several occasions that the main actors had signed contracts that included a clause that they would return for two sequels. Even if Howard's contact didn't include salary negotiations for the sequel it was virtually assumed that he would return because the part in the second installment was more favorable to him; Howard's character would have more screen time as well as don his own suit of armor in Iron Man 2, opening the door for a possible spin-off franchise based on the superhero persona of War Machine. What makes today's development even odder is that Cheadle is a veteran actor and his quote would certainly be high enough to represent someone of his caliber and name recognition; in other words, Cheadle wouldn't be cheap to hire. Most likely the ultimate factor in Howard being removed from this superhero franchise were the "other reasons" that the Reporter mentioned.

Hero Complex, the online geek HQ for the Los Angeles Times newspaper, conducted a live chat with Iron Man director Jon Favreau. Naturally the subject of the sequel came up and numerous questions were asked about what's going on it with it. Favs answered as best as he could in a non-spoilerish way.

• On the subject of making the 2010 release date: "The date is daunting. We are making much faster progress than the first time around and have much less to design and fewer casting issues. I am confident that 2010 is achievable if we continue working together as we have for the past few months. It has to be great, though. It has to be great."
• On consulting with Matt Fraction, the current writer of Marvel's Iron Man comic book: "We flew him out to LA to discuss story. He's a great comic writer. Also, love Adi's art. He will work on the movie's designs."
• On bringing back Nick Fury in the sequel: "Shield is important to the franchise, and what is Shield without Fury?"
• On Stark's alcoholism from the comic book being used in any future movies: "Stark has issues with booze. That's part of who he is. I don't think we'll ever do the Leaving Las Vegas version, but it will be dealt with."
• On what kind of villains will fit into any sequels: "I think we need some version of 'classic villians' in these movies. Many don't hold up well to time and to the big screen, but their essence should inspire the characters."
• And then there was this possible hint dropped by Favreau when asked about if he would consider bringing in a female adversary from the comics like Madame Masque: "Female villain...Now there's an interesting notion."
• On Tony coming out of the superhero closet: "Iron Man is indeed a celebrity. He announced who he was and we have now officially departed from the standard scret ID superhero. Tony was already famous before the announcement. What would really happen if this went down? Fun to explore."

While attending a media scrum to discuss the upcoming DVD release of the first Iron Man movie, director Jon Favreau answered questions about the progress on developing the sequel and how the storyline was being created. While Favreau didn't want to be pinned down and offer any direct answers on Iron Man 2's premise, he did confirm that, at this point, introducing the character of War Machine is in the early planning stages. "I want to do it, we're drawing War Machine, we're figuring it out. We're talking with Terrence [Howard], we're seeing if he can take some time out from his new life as a musician to be War Machine," Favreau told the online press and was reported on Collider, Coming Soon and CHUD.

The director also is worried about how best to adapt The Mandarin, one of the main adversaries in the Iron Man comic and who is alluded to with the terrorists' "Ten Rings" organization, into a film series that he sees as being more Tom Clancy-ish and grounded in high tech than mysticism or magic (which is where the powers of Marvel Comics' Mandarin come from.) "The Mandarin is such a tricky character for us because everywhere you turn it's a minefield. So we get into the mystical Asian dark arts and inter-dimensional travel and all the rings that do the different things and psychic abilities and stuff and it's like, 'That could be cool. Maybe it's cool. Maybe if we make it really authentic.' Then you see the trailer for The Mummy [3] movie and it's like they've got the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom in there! And they shot in China and it's like as authentic as you're ever going to get. It's like, 'Ooh, I don't know if that fits our film.' It was great for The Mummy, though. So where do you go with it? What are your rules and how do you stay consistent with them? What happens is that people get desperate as they're looking for inspiration to up the ante and so you start breaking your own rules, and that's when the movies start to lose their identity." To that end it may work out that saving the reveal of The Mandarin until a third film could be the best option to take right now.

Favreau also said that he is being inspired by the current Iron Man comic book stories written by Matt Fraction and wants to meet with him to get his take on possibilities ("The Fraction series is informed by current events and what's going on in the world. I'm very impressed by what he's written,"); that he wants to have a bigger end battle for the second film; that some of Iron Man 2 may be filmed in in 3D or IMAX; and that he, Robert Downey Jr. and screenwriter Justin Theroux are working on setting the foundation for Iron Man 2 by thinking of directions to take Tony Stark's growth rather than plot out all of the details and who the villain will be ("We're breaking story and pages are coming out, but it's really more of a conversation than actual writing now.")

So far there's been no official announcement about Jon Favreau returning to direct the Iron Man sequel. While that front hasn't changed, fans of Favs no longer have to worry that something went wrong in the negotiation phase. The actor/director told the Los Angeles Times' Geoff Boucher that he's signed, sealed and delivered for work on Iron Man 2. "We're working on it now," Favreau revealed to the paper, "which hasn't been officially announced." Maybe Marvel is waiting to finalize deals for the stars before making their official announcement?