Emily Blunt Most Likely Will Not Appear in Iron Man 2

Sad news for Iron Man fans. Slash Film is reporting that Emily Blunt will probably not appear as the Black Widow in the upcoming sequel. Contractual obligations to 20th Century Fox are rumored to have forced her to drop Iron Man in favor of Gulliver's Travels which is due to begin shooting at the same time as the comic book film. If this news is true, and it looks to be fairly solid, then Marvel will be losing a talented actress who would have done an excellent job in their movie, and fans may be forced to live with Scarlett Johansson instead. Casting news is always iffy until the contract is sign, but I had my hopes on this one and am sad to see Blunt have to part ways with the metallic crusader.

Mysterious Iron Man 2 Casting Update

Word has been tossed about lately over the potential casting of Mickey Rourke as a villain called Crimson Dynamo in the upcoming Iron Man 2. But in an interview with MTV, star Robert Downey Jr. has partially denied those reports. The consensus seems to be that Rourke is still on track to be cast in the film, but in a much more hush-hush role. Nothing is set in stone yet, but it overall seems to jive with the latest Internet buzz.

One issue that has yet to be resolved is whether Emily Blunt will be able to appear as Black Widow in the Iron Man sequel. Last week it was announced that Blunt had signed up to appear in Gulliver's Travels, which will be shooting around the same time as Iron Man 2. The Vault will post the resolution to that problem as soon as it is resolved.

Superhero Rumor Mill

There's some interesting tidbits flying around the Internet today, centering on multiple superhero movies. First off, Slash Film is reporting two stories from the DC world of comics. The first comes from IESB, who claims that Christopher Nolan has begun writing the script for a third Batman film. Peter Sciretta at Slash Film is highly skeptical about the news, and says if anything, they may be tossing around some ideas over at the studio, but not putting paper to pen. I was encouraged by earlier interviews with Nolan when he asked a reporter point blank "How many good third movies can you name?" It certainly indicates that he will be thinking long and hard about creating a third film, though I'm sure Warner Bros. is pushing hard to get another movie maker onto the big screens. There have been whispers on the wind about this or that actor returning to the cast, but none of them have been solid enough to warrant posting at the Vault.

Next up, a Flash film may be slightly more on the way to becoming a feature length film. Writers have turned in numerous treatments of the film, but none have gotten the green light for production. While Sciretta is again sceptical that the news is anything to get worked up about, First Showing is doing cartwheels.

Sadly, Sciretta's post also mentions that the same writer is also currently behind a Jonny Quest film, something I'd been trying to convince myself wasn't true. But after a few weeks of self-denial, I finally put in a Google search and came up this article from last year. Another one of my childhood memories down the drain.

Last, but not least, a more solid but as yet unresolved story involving the casting of Emily Blunt in Iron Man 2. It seems that Blunt has also signed up to appear in a new adaptation of Guilliver's Travels and scheduling conflicts may force her to pull out of one or the other. At the moment, representatives are claiming that she should be available to appear in both films. Stay tuned for more updates.

Economics Hitting Casting Choices?

Word is spreading like wild fire around the Internet of Samuel L. Jackson's interview with Los Angeles Times blog Hero Complex, in which he expresses concern for his future in being recast as Nick Fury in the upcoming Iron Man 2. Jackson, who played Fury in the teaser tag at the end of the first Iron Man, stated that "there is an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world" which may be affecting their ability to hire him. This isn't the first time money has been sited in a casting choice for the franchise: Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Col. Rhodes back in October.

Of course, nothing is set in stone considering Jackson and Nick Fury as of yet. But would opting for a cheaper star help or hurt Marvel Studios in the long run? While a big name star like Jackson certainly wouldn't hurt the fan factor, there's always the possibility that an actor of a smaller status could pull off the job just as well. But, as Hero Complex points out, Jackson has become the icon for Nick Fury, to the point of latest comic conception of the character to be drawn in a likeness of Jackson (above). This being the case, a smaller star would have rather large shoes to be filling given the anticipated presence Jackson could bring to the role. In the end, you have to spend money to make money, and it would probably be in Marvel's best interest to pursue Jackson as a casting choice.