When we think of Black Widow, the first thing that comes to our mind is Scarlett Johansson wearing her signature red hair and holding her twin batons. This, however, would have been very different had the MCU’s first choice of the role, Emily Blunt, would have agreed to take on the role of Natasha Romanoff.
The 2010 movie, Iron Man 2 is the film that introduces Black Widow in the MCU. This role had originally been planned to be played by A Quiet Place actress, but due to scheduling conflicts, she had to turn the role down. Leading to Johansson taking on the mantle and making it her own.
Emily Blunt Opens Up About Rejecting Black Widow
In an interview with Howard Stern in 2021, Emily Blunt conveyed why she said no to playing the assassin in the first place. According to her contract with 20th Century Fox, now known as 20th Century Studios, she was obligated to an optional picture deal, which tied her to working in Gulliver’s Travels.
“I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels.”
The actress proceeded to explain how even though she had liked the role, she could not accept the role. Blunt talks adoringly about her time spent working with a lot of very nice people who were heaven to work with, but the actress still feels conflicted about the choice.
She did, however, state that for her, it was not about the project, but the role. She claimed that she is still in search of the perfect role as a superhero just with a condition that it should speak to her and fit her criteria.
Also Read: 6 Marvel Characters Emily Blunt Could Play That Aren’t Invisible Woman
Emily Blunt’s Future In The MCU And Fantastic Four Casting Rumors
By 2021 and early 2022, after the announcement that Fantastic Four is in the works for MCU’s Phase 4, casting rumors had started circulating throughout social media and various other platforms as to who would play the superheroes. Right at that time, Emily Blunt had been rumored to be in talks to play Invisible Woman, aka, Susan Storm.
This however did not end up being the case as the actress stepped forward to address these murmurs. She had claimed that although superhero roles aren’t beneath her, they are still not roles she would see herself playing as such. She talked about how the casting had just been fans wanting to find a dream cast and it not being true, even though her husband, John Krasinksi did indeed show up as Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Also Read: Emily Blunt Talks Passing On The Black Widow Role
Source: Entertainment Weekly
