For more than a decade, Scarlett Johansson has remained synonymous with her Marvel character, Black Widow. It is her impeccable portrayal that made the female superhero as famous as it got in a world primarily dominated by male superheroes and actors. Not only did fans cry, and shed tears when she was killed off in Endgame but have also been demanding to have her back.
However, it wasn’t all too easy for Johanson to play Black Widow, a role that almost ended up in Emily Blunt’s filmography. To prepare for the role, the actress had to work hard in the gym so that she could fit in her character’s iconic black suit. And it was specifically this fact that initially made her freak out.
Real Reason Why Scarlett Johansson Freaked Out Over Black Widow Role
A while back, The Hollywood Reporter detailed how much amount of hard work went into Scarlett Johansson‘s portrayal of Black Widow. From including Olympic weightlifting to time-restricted eating, one really needs to be god’s strongest soldier to be a Marvel actor.
While Johansson is surely happy to be fit and fine thanks to her MCU role, it was precisely this attribute that initially scared her when she was offered the role of Black Widow. Having made her first appearance as Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2, the actress revealed to Sci-Fi Movie Page in 2010 about her concerns about the character,
“I knew it was going to be some kind of sexy unitard, because I had researched the character in the comics. I’ve never worn anything like it before, so I had a freak-out moment that lasted about half a day, but then I said ‘Okay, time to suck it up’ and just went full force into getting in shape to wear the costume and perform the physical action so it looked just right.”
And so she did ‘suck it up’ and became the best on-screen Black Widow that comic book fans could have ever gotten. It is thanks to her hard work and immense determination that the character became as big as it is.
However, Scarlett Johansson Was Not The First Choice For Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson’s famous portrayal of Black Widow has made the character one of the most famous ones from Marvel’s comic-book universe. However, the actress was never the first choice for the superhero, instead, it was Emily Blunt who was offered the role in 2010’s Iron Man 2.
It was due to her contract obligations with the 20th Century Fox to do an optional picture that made her turn down the superspy role. While on The Howard Stern Show, Blunt stated,
“I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels… It was a bit of a heartbreaker for me. I take such pride in the decisions that I make, and they mean so much to me, the films that I do.”
As the popular saying goes ‘Everything happens for the right reason’, Blunt’s turning down the role led to Johansson becoming Black Widow, a decision that proved to be significant for her, for the character, and for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.
