Expendables
Why is he not in the expendables 3??
Lose the Game!!!!!!!
Ego.
Literally, his ego.
EX1 wasn't a great film, but for what it was, it coincided perfectly with his "comeback" -- it came out right after The Wrestler and made $100 mil domestic. That's good. Even though he wasn't the lead actor, it helped solidify his comeback status.
When the sequel went into pre-production, he fell victim to his old ways: he got arrogant and weird. He demanded too much money, too many clauses in his contract. In the original script, he was killed and his death triggered The Expendables to seek vengeance. After his bizarre behavior, he was written out and replaced by the Hemsworth kid. (If you Google far back enough you'll find plot summaries still listing Tool's death as a plot device for the film.)
When EX3 was still being rumored, there was an interview done with Avi Lerner (I think that's the guy's name, I could be wrong) - he's the producer of the franchise. He was asked about Rourke and he said (to paraphrase): "Mickey is welcome back as long as he stops actin crazy."
Before EX3 went into production Stallone tweeted, "Mighty Mickey is back!" But clearly something happened behind the scenes because when the press release came out a month later with the full cast, he was nowhere to be seen.
He ruined his career so many times, it's hard to even count myself as a fan at this point
W.W.G.D.
What Would Gibson Do?