As I’m sure a lot of you are aware, Iron Man 2 is just under a year away; and if you’re also following Director Jon Favreau’s Tweets, you’ll know that they are at the half-way point of filming. Empire was able to recently talk to the Iron Man 2 director and his newest villain, Mickey Rourke, about Iron Man’s struggles and the Whiplash suit.

“Tony’s expected to be a role model and I don’t think he’s ready to be one. He’s under a great deal of pressure and when you’re under pressure, I think you find outlets for that. That’s one of the tensions of the film: it’s one thing to say you’re Iron Man, and another thing to actually become Iron Man.”

Meanwhile, Mickey Rourke, who appears as new Iron Man nemesis Whiplash, was back on set last week after a stint with Sly, Li, Lundgren, Statham et al on The Expendables. “I’m having the time of my life!” he enthused about joining the Iron Man franchise. “It’s been really brutal, because my Iron Man suit weighs 23lb. It’s sort of a half-suit, with half my skin showing, with lots of Russian tattoos, because [Whiplash is just] out of a Russian-zone prison.”

You can check out the full interview over at Empire where Favreau also teases about War Machine…