Emily Blunt Talks About Turning Down the Role of Black Widow
Ever since her character first appeared in Iron Man 2, Scarlet Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff was the heart of the MCU. Johansson would eventually reprise her role as Black Widow in eight different films, helping the well-established actress become a household name.
Even after her character’s death in Avengers: Endgame, Johansson returned to the MCU one more time for 2021’s Black Widow, which dove into Natasha’s past and gave the character a proper sendoff.
While Scarlett Johansson is inextricably linked to Black Widow in the mind of millions of Marvel fans, she almost wasn’t cast in the iconic role.
Marvel’s first choice for the role was actually Emily Blunt, who was offered to part way back in 2010.
Why Emily Blunt Turned Down Playing Black Widow
According to Blunt, however, she had to pass on the part because she was “contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels,” despite not necessarily wanting the part.
“It was a bit of a heartbreaker for me because I take such pride in the decisions that I make. And they mean so much to me, the films that I do, so that was tough,” she said of turning down the Marvel role. “They [Fox] kind of have a bit of a hold over you. There were other movies that I would want to do.”
“The Best Girl Got It”
In a recent episode on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Blunt revealed that while she was sad she wasn’t able to accept the role of Black Widow, she believes Johansson was the best actress for the job.
“Come on, the best girl got it,” Blunt said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast about Johansson, adding that she was “amazing.”
Outside of Black Widow, there have previously been reports that Blunt was up for other MCU roles. These included Captain Marvel, Peggy Carter, and Sue Storm at different times.
Blunt waved off that speculation, labeling them as, “Rumors. Talk. Queries. That kind of thing.”
Blunt maintains that she had never met with producers or directors for any of those projects.
A Great “What If?”
While there is no doubt that Blunt would have been a good Black Widow, Johnannson’s performance was perfect. She was able to take the character from a cold-blooded super-spy to the heart of the Avengers.
Still, Blunt being able to play Romanoff remains one of the great “what ifs?” in Marvel history.
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