Mickey Rourke was originally planned to reprise his role of Tool in The Expendables 2, but the actor ended up backing out before production.

Mickey Rourke was originally planned to reprise his role of Tool in The Expendables 2, but the actor ended up backing out before production. When it comes to action stars, they don't get much bigger than Sylvester Stallone, and when it comes to action movies, most would argue they don't get much better than those made in the 1980s. From The Terminator, to Rambo, to Predator, to Die Hard, to dozens more notables, the 1980s produced a style of rugged, smash-mouth action flicks rarely seen today.

That's exactly the style that Stallone was seeking to resurrect when he created The Expendables franchise, which released its debut film in 2010. In addition to Stallone himself, the bulk of the cast was made up of other big action names (such as Dolph Lundgren and Jet Li), as well as people with a reputation for being real-life badasses (such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Randy Couture). Interestingly, Rourke fell more in the latter category, never primarily being known for his action movie work, but having spent years as a professional boxer, racking up a pretty impressive win-loss record of 6 wins, 0 losses, and 2 draws.

Rourke was also hot in Hollywood around the time The Expendables was made, having recently starred in The Wrestler and played the villain Whiplash in Iron Man 2. It's easy to see why Stallone decided to cast him, and why he'd want to bring him back, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

Mickey Rourke's Planned Role In The Expendables 2 (& Why He Quit)

In The Expendables, Mickey Rourke plays the relatively small role of Tool, a retired mercenary and tattoo artist that's also a close friend and confidant to Sylvester Stallone's lead character Barney Ross. While not appearing in much of the film, Tool still proves to be a pivotal character, having an emotional conversation with Barney that gives him the necessary drive to finish his mission and rescue Sandra from certain death back in Vilena. The original plans for The Expendables 2 included Rourke coming back to play Tool again, this time getting off the bench and back in the thick of a mission alongside his comrades.

That was until Rourke abruptly exited the project, reportedly to pursue a leading role in the 2012 film Seven Psychopaths, which was set to star Colin Farrell and reunited Farrell with In Bruges director Martin McDonagh. Reports at the time also suggested that a low salary offer played a role in Rourke ducking out of Expendables 2, and whether that's true or not, it's known that Rourke signed on for The Expendables primarily as a favor to Stallone. With Stallone no longer in the director's chair for the sequel, perhaps Rourke felt no obligation to come back. His role in the script was repurposed for a new character, Liam Hemsworth's Billy the Kid, who dies partway through. If this was also the plan for Tool, perhaps that played a part in Rourke's decision to quit the sequel as well. Either way, Rourke also ended up dropping out of Seven Psychopaths.

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