The first Avengers film was inarguably a true masterpiece. With its star-studded cast and even more brilliant storyline, casting, and actors’ performances, the Joss Whedon-helmed film was perfection at its peak. But before it was finalized to hold all the elements that it did, the film almost took a different turn; one that could have brought about Zooey Deschanel’s Marvel debut.
As surprising as it may seem, filmmaker Whedon almost had Deschanel debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the same role that later went on to Michelle Pfeiffer. And had Scarlett Johansson’s scheduling conflicts for the same persisted, fans just might have seen a different plot in the saga — one that included Deschanel as a young Janet Van Dyne!
How Joss Whedon Intended to Bring Zooey Deschanel to The Avengers
Since Ant-Man and The Wasp were two of the major forces behind the forming of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the source material, a lot of comic-book fans were confused when these two weren’t seen in the first Avengers film. Well, surprise, surprise! to those fans, for introducing The Wasp in that movie was actually the initial plan.
According to the behind the scene tidbit mentioned in the book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry), filmmaker Whedon was initially faced with a conflict of opinions on which female superhero to introduce in his first Marvel movie.
While the superheroine initially slated to be introduced in the 2012 masterpiece was Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow, there was a point where the actress’ scheduling conflicts seemed to be posing a barrier to her Marvel debut. Thus, as a backup plan, Whedon developed an alternate storyline with another hero replacing Black Widow.
As director Joss Whedon shared in the book (via CBR):
“The Wasp happened because there was a short period where it looked like we weren’t going to be able to get Scarlett [due to scheduling conflicts],” the book quotes Whedon as saying. “I was panicking. I thought, ‘Hold on, we could do The Wasp.’”
Just like that, with a flurry of new ideas and excitement all over the place, Whedon ended up writing a separate story. Inevitably enough, had this happened, it would have brought about Zooey Deschanel‘s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in one of the leading roles as Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp.
Things Looked Good for Zooey Deschanel Before her MCU Debut was Scrapped Altogether
As mentioned in the book, producer Jeremy Latcham is quoted as revealing how “It was all about The Wasp. [Whedon] wanted to cast Deschanel. [The Wasp] was the funniest character in the whole movie and well-written.” Had she been introduced, it would have given a different and more creative flair than what Janet Van Dyne got in the later installments.
In fact, things seemed to be looking more than just good for Deschanel, considering how Whedon himself admitted he went a bit too overboard with The Wasp’s storyline. That was until Johansson took over and reclaimed her place. As the director is quoted to have said in the book:
“But we did get Scarlett, and then I realized I had written this entire movie about The Wasp. Oops. I overcompensated there.”
Then there was Kevin Feige, who further stepped into the picture to give it the sense of direction it eventually ended up having: With the main six of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the lead, as was established in Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Just like that, the renowned masterpiece from 2012 was given birth to, and as sad as it may be to admit it, fans wouldn’t want to see the film any other way.
As for Deschanel: She never got the chance to make her Marvel debut after that, for Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) was introduced as the main Wasp in the later sequels, and Deschanel wouldn’t have looked good as an old Janet Van Dyne at her young age (who was scored by Michelle Pfeiffer), as was seen in the Ant-Man saga.
You can stream The Avengers on Disney+.
