Some actors get offered so many roles that they have to decide which film they will step in front of the camera for. Filming can take several months. So actress Emily Blunt had to decline the role of Black Widow in Iron Man 2, but the decision was not voluntary.
Why wasn’t it Emily Blunt? Instead of Emily Blunt, we see Scarlett Johansson in many Marvel films in the role of Black Widow. Actually, Blunt also wanted to take on the role of Natasha Romanoff, as Black Widow is called by her real name.
But a contract prevented her from doing so. In the podcast “Happy Sad Confused,” she regrets that she could not accept the role (via facebook.com):
I already had a contract for Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels. […] It broke my heart a little because I’m so proud of the decisions I make and the films I do.
Blunt had already starred in The Devil Wears Prada
and had contracted herself to be bound to further future films from 20th Century Fox. Unfortunately, this meant she could not participate in the Marvel production.
There were even more films she would have liked to do. However, due to the contractual obligation, she had to decline all films she would have preferred to participate in over Gulliver’s Travels.
You can see Scarlett Johansson among others in Black Widow. You can watch a trailer for it here on MeinMMO:
Iron Man 2 Wins at the Box Office
Blunt will regret the decision partly due to the popularity of the two films. While Gulliver’s Travels did not receive a sequel, Scarlett Johansson was a staple of the Marvel Universe.
The actress has since moved on from her role as Black Widow, but before that, she appeared in a total of eight MCU films:
- Iron Man 2
- Marvel’s The Avengers
- The Return of the First Avenger
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- The First Avenger: Civil War
- Avengers: Infinity War
- (Captain Marvel, end credit scene)
- Avengers: Endgame
- Black Widow
The reviews on IMDb also show that Iron Man 2 was better received by the audience than Gulliver’s Travels. The film has a rating of 4.9 out of 10 stars, while Iron Man 2 can score two points more.
The popularity is in line with the revenue of the films: While Gulliver’s Travels made 237.4 million dollars, Iron Man 2 grossed 623.9 million dollars. So there are several reasons why Blunt might be upset about declining the role.
Actor Clark Gregg was also lucky with his role as Agent Coulson in Iron Man: Agent Coulson was not even supposed to have a name in Iron Man, later became the star of a Marvel series
