New toy packaging and Iron Man 2 figures have appeared online, the most exciting of these is a ‘Mark VI’ armor, seen below. Pictures come via Marvelous News.

EW.com have posted a new image showing Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit at a diner, presumably Randy’s Donuts, which we’ve seen in filming. According to the SDCC footage, which prematurely leaked on the internet, this scene will feature Stark talking to Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson), Jackson was also spotted in the vicinity of Randy’s Donuts during filming.

A shot of Tony Stark sitting in a chair watching what is presumably a home movie. Picture via Marvel.

What with Comic-con and all there’s a lot of Iron Man 2 news floating about; we’ve got new officially released pictures of Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Don Cheadle as Rhodey and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer.

We’ve seen Tony Stark and Whiplash in Iron Man 2, now’s our first look at the next major new character, the Black Widow (also known as the Russian spy Natasha Romanoff), played by Scarlett Johansson. These shots come courteous of EW and Leroy.

Plot details

The article also offers up some very interesting plot details.

As we already know, Sam Rockwell is playing the weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer, “who fancies himself the next Tony Stark”. Rourke plays the new villain Whiplash, aka Russian criminal Vanko – Vanko creates his first suit whilst imprisoned, his final suit fires “devastating, whip-like beams.”

Whiplash and Hammer join forces to take on Iron Man. Meanwhile Natasha Romanoff is hired as Stark’s assistant (to replace Pepper Potts, now CEO of Stark Industries). This ultimately leads to romantic tensions.

Rourke also reveals that his character enjoys talking to a cockatoo whilst drunk.

Via Jon Favreau’s twitter feed and “Road & Track”, we’ve got a picture of Tony Stark’s Grand prix racer. This will form part of the Monaco action scene, which presumably also features Whiplash (Mickey Rourke). We’ve previously seen set pictures from Downey Studios, California, which show a replica Monaco racetrack being built. Astute fans have also noticed the shape of the Moncao GP track on Tony Stark’s computer screen in the first officially released Iron Man 2 image.

RT @ironmanarmory: @Jon_Favreau I see Road & Track has pics up of Stark’s GP racer. http://bit.ly/Sa3Qh

There’s really nothing much to this new Iron Man poster, but here goes:

Here’s Mickey Rourke in full Whiplash costume. Click the image for a high res version.

Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) sports a power pack on his chest that looks similar to the one that Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) uses.

“The technologies are definitely related,” says director Jon Favreau. “That’s part of the core theme of the film.”

The villain’s alter ego, Ivan Vanko, is a Russian who “has constructed his own version of a suit,” Favreau says. Among the creative innovations: a pair of whips, powered by the suit’s glowing chest piece, that are expected to keep Iron Man cracking.

This first image of the character shows Whiplash making an appearance at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. Favreau as usual is tight-lipped about plot points and declines to discuss whether the big-screen Whiplash is, as in the Marvel Comics, a weapons designer who works for Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a competitor of Tony Stark/Iron Man.

“We like to play into and against the expectations that people might have, so we mixed it up a bit,” Favreau says.

Rourke’s performances in Sin City and The Wrestler helped convince the director that the actor was the best candidate to face Downey in his sequel to last spring’s blockbuster that grossed $318.4 million.

“It was very important that the villain be as compelling as can be. … Once I thought of Mickey in that role, it made me understand how to shape the story.”

(Thanks Leroy!)