According to Rodriguez, we can mark both Mickey Rourke and Rosario Dawson down to reprise their respective roles.  Though Rourke is notoriously reticent to commit to many films, co-director Rodriguez asserted that he had a lunch with the Oscar-winner over the weekend and Rourke will return.

Rodriguez, who previously directed Rourke in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, told MTV Splash Page, “[Rourke is] all excited to come back, but he’s probably the first one. I saw Rosario [Dawson] too. I ran into her for something else, and she’s pumped. They’ve always been excited about doing another one, so that will be fun.”

Last year, when a Sin City follow-up looking significantly less likely to happen, Rourke was less sure he'd be back to once again play the lumbering Marv again, citing the claustrophobic makeup process.  Still, he didn't rule it out, saying, "Depends how bad they want me. Ya’ feel me?"  Spoiler alert, but the vengeful simpleton was executed at the conclusion of "The Long Hard Goodbye," his segment in Sin City, but the lack of a straightforward chronological narrative means Marv could easily be back.

Dawson, meanwhile, will be playing the willful Basin City prostitute Gail, who appeared in the last film's story "The Big Fat Kill."  The hero of that tale, Dwight, will show up in the sequel, since the title story, "A Dame to Kill For," is a sort of origin for the character.  It's unknown whether Clive Owen will be back, since Dwight actually undergoes plastic surgery in the course of the story, ending up looking like Owen.  The actor has previously expressed enthusiasm at the idea, though.

Miller has also said that Sin City: A Dame to Kill For will include an original tale that would star Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan, last seen in "That Yellow Bastard."

The 2005 adaptation set a crazy-high standard for adherence to comic book source material, bringing Miller aboard as a co-director and frequently using his over-the-top noir panels as storyboards.  The much-discussed sequel has been in the works for years as Miller and Rodriguez worked on the script.  Last year, The Departed screenwriter William Monahan was hired to polish the script, and that seems to have worked out well.