First look at Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2

New pics of the three key Iron Man 2 players have sneaked online, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

The mag features a cover shot of Robert Downey Jr. - reprising his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Mickey Rourke as villain Whiplash and Scarlett as Tony's new assistant Natasha (alter-ego Black Widow).

There's also a separate pic of Scarlett as Black Widow, crouching down and looking coiled and ready to strike. Is she squaring up to attack Mickey Rourke? Crawling under some invisible security-system laser things? We couldn't say...

Inside, the leads chat about the Jon Favreau-directed May 2010 superhero sequel.

"There are a lot more invisible eyes on us now," says RDJ, referring to how the movie isn't an underdog this time round. "People are going to be more critical. There's no way to win, except to win big!"

Rourke is characteristically frank: "I told Favreau I didn't want to just play him as a one-dimensional prick. He let me have a cockatoo, who I talk to and get drunk with while I'm making my suit."

Gwyneth Paltrow, Tony's original assistant now promoted to CEO of Stark Industries, talks about the perceived rivalry between her character and Scarlett's Natasha/Black Widow.

"The men want it to be like, 'Oooh, the girls are fighting over Tony! But it's not as standard as that. There's a weird male catfight fantasy..."

RDJ does confess that the sequel has been sexed up, though... "We're horny. Not, like, can't-bring-your-kids horny. Just... horny."

Source: EW.com