The first photo of Mickey Rourke as the villain Whiplash in Iron Man II popped up online last night, courtesy of USA Today, and the film blogs have been critiquing it and/or defending it all day (and night, if they got to it early). I’m not familiar with the character from the comics, so I can’t judge how faithful Rourke’s appearance is, but I will say that the costume looks terrible. It reminds me of both Dolph Lundgren in Masters of the Universe and Halle Berry in Catwoman. I’m not saying that it will take away from Rourke being totally awesome in the Iron Man sequel. And maybe this isn’t the guy’s final getup, so it shouldn’t be criticized so harshly. But this image is hardly a worthwhile promotional tool, since many bloggers are immediately trashing it. Personally, I hope we eventually get to see Rourke in the more fabulous Blashlash wardrobe.

Check out a sample of the comments from the blogosphere after the jump:

• Charlie Jane Anders at i09 supplies some info on the character:
  

  …Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash, a Russian who creates his own power-suit, with light-up electrical whips…Except it seems like Ivan forgot the “suit” part.

• Simon Dang at The Playlist is laughing at this:
  

  The image shows the Academy Award nominated actor in his character’s ridiculous looking and technologically underwhelming suit making an appearance at the Monaco Historical Grand Prix, presumably on his way from his native Russia to the United States. A cross between “The Road Warrior” and god, someone with bad weave, we hope he looks less laughable later on.

• Rob Bricken at Topless Robot asks, “really?” and gives thumbs down:
  

  Look, I’m not digging this, but I think that’s mainly because I really don’t want to look at Mickey Rourke’s weird leathery body and bizarre pirate facial hair; still, I have to give Jon Favreau the benefit of the doubt after the immensely enjoyable first movie. Besides, I didn’t realize that the comic Whiplash was currently dressing like Lord Humungus from Road Warrior.

• Lane Brown from Vulture thinks this is a cost-effective look:
  

  So we guess we know where Paramount saved money in its Mickey Rourke budget!…what’s up with the cheap-looking supervillain costume? At least it’s a little more stylish than what he wore to the Oscars — but are we really to believe that this unprotective, seemingly rust-prone skeleton of a suit will actually pose a threat to the Iron Man armor? Maybe it’s a prototype?

• Neil Miller at Film School Rejects also wonders if this is a prototype for a more “wicked” advanced suit we’ll see later. He doesn’t think this version is badass enough:
  

  All-in-all, Rourke doesn’t look very menacing in this photo — in fact he looks ready for a South Beach retirement. But as you know with villains, it’s attitude attitude attitude. And that won’t be ready for our eyes until we see a first trailer.

• Seth Abramovitch at Movieline makes a joke about those barely visible whips:
  

  Obviously, we’re seeing a primitive prototype of the supervillain’s eventual armor, a piece of state-of-the-art weaponry the Russian will eventually use on his own people, turning on his government after they cruelly enlist his wiper-blade arms to give the windows of the International Space Station a no-streak clean.

• Speaking of the whips, Mark at I Watch Stuff is reminded of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode:
  

  Is Mickey Rourke playing a He-Man figure? Based on the above image, that’s a logical conclusion to come to, but no–this is the first look at Rourke in Iron Man 2…Powered whips, eh? Wait a minute, I think I’ve seen that somewhere before…[click here for the clip]

• Dustin Rowles at Pajiba compares Rourke to an old hag:
  

  He looks a little like Mrs. Ganush from Drag Me to Hell to me.

  And as you can see here, Whiplash is sporting a power device on his chest, similar to the one worn by Tony Stark. Said device is attached to a couple of whips. He’s one of those S & M villian types.

• MovieWeb hopes this isn’t the final product:
  

  Is that just me or does that get-up look like something made in a garage and/or a science fair? Rourke does look pretty bad-ass with all the tats and everything, but lets just hope this is the Mark I version of Whiplash…

• Vic Holtreman at Screen Rant doesn’t believe this is the final product:
  

  This looks like the Whiplash version of the Mark I Iron Man armor - very raw, just the basic components. Based on what Rourke is wearing I’d say this is probably the first time he’s donned the weaponry and I’ll bet that later on in the film, financed by Justin Hammer, he’ll have a protective suit as cool as Tony Stark’s armor.

• Elisabeth Rappe at Cinematical compares Rourke to the comic version and gives thumbs up:
  

  It’s definitely inspired by the original character’s suit, but thankfully doesn’t resemble an S&M gimp. I like how raw and unfinished it looks, and the tattoos are awesome. Overall, it’s a rather terrifying effect … but I think that has more to do with Rourke and his surgical enhancements than anything to do with the costume or the character.

• Alex Billington at First Showing is surprised but also likes it:
  

  His “outfit” consists of a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one used by Tony Stark. “The technologies are definitely related, and that’s part of the core theme of the film,” explains director Jon Favreau. This is probably not what you’re expecting to see (I wasn’t), but it’s awesome to see Rourke suited up nonetheless.

• Quint at Aint it Cool News prefers this being the final look:
  

  I know I wouldn’t want to run into this EASTERN PROMISES tattooed creepy hulk of a man in a dark alley somewhere.

  I also like that they’re veering away from having a totally armored bad guy so we’re not just rinse-wash-repeating the last film. I personally can’t wait to get a glimpse of the whips in action.

• Devin Faraci at CHUD.com is also a fan and makes a similar comparison:
  

  Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash may want to cover up some. At least if he’s going to be going head to head with Shellhead in Iron Man 2. This is the official first picture of Rourke in costume as the movie’s villain, and he looks like a steampunk version of Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises. I like it!

• Chris Hewitt at Empire agrees that this is good enough:
  

  As for Whiplash’s look, we like it. It’s unusual for a supervillain to be so brazen about his true identity, and there’s something about the ramshackle nature of his chestplate and ‘costume’ that should make for a great contrast with Robert Downey Jr’s glistening golden Avenger. It’s also a near step away from the normal thinking that Man In Suit must fight Bigger Man In Suit - which was one of the few faults of the first movie.

• John at The Movie Blog doesn’t want to judge too badly just yet:
  

  So it’s another guy with a power suit? Not sure I’m excited about that… but it’s just a picture so I won’t read too much into it just yet.

• Phil Pirrello at IGN is also saving most of his criticisms for later on, but has one last comparison:
  

  Looking like a cross between a Planet Hulk gladiator and the harness Stark wore in the first movie, it’s safe to say that this take on the villain is not exactly what fans were expecting…A few of us around the IGN offices here in LA will reserve full judgment until we see the whips and the costume in motion…