"[Rourke is] all excited to come back, but he's probably the first one," Rodriguez told MTV of returning players. "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."And since this is actually a prequel, and not a sequel, it's okay to bring back characters who perished in the first film.
Source: MTV