In case you didn’t know, Emily Blunt was offered the role of Natasha Romanoff/The Black Widow in Iron Man 2, but turned it down, allowing Scarlett Johansson to snare the role that made her a superstar. Johansson went on to appear in 10 Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including cameos and the upcoming solo flick, Black Widow. Meanwhile, Blunt went on to appear in The Adjustment Bureau, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, Into the Woods, The Girl on the Train, Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, and the upcoming sequel A Quiet Place 2.
While promoting that last flick, Blunt took a moment to address why she ultimately passed on the role of Black Widow. Appearing on The Howard Stern Show, Blunt said:
“I actually do want to clean up the story. I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels. I love Iron Man and when I got offered Black Widow I was obsessed with Iron Man. I wanted to work with Robert Downey Jr. – it would’ve been amazing, but I don’t know if superhero movies are for me. They’re not up my alley. I don’t like them. I really don’t.
“[It was a] bit of [a] heartbreaker… I take such pride in the decisions that I make, and they mean so much to me, the films that I do. I care very deeply, very, very much, about the choices I make. That’s all I have, the choices that I make.
“There were a lot of really lovely people who were heaven to work with [on Gulliver’s Travels]. I actually had a good time, a laugh, with all of them, but it irked my heart for it to have happened in the first place.”
Coincidentally, Blunt’s husband and her costar and director of the A Quiet Place movies, John Krasinski, also passed on the role of Captain America. In 2016, the actor told Jimmy Kimmel that he was intimidated when he saw Chris Hemsworth in his Thor costume.
“I went, ‘I’m good. This is stupid. That’s okay, I’m not Captain America.'”
It’s interesting and ironic that seemingly millions of fans are clamoring for Krasinski and Blunt to be cast as Reed and Sue Richards a.k.a. Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman in Marvel’s eventual Fantastic Four movie. Considering that Krasinski thought he looked “stupid” in the Captain America costume and that Blunt admits to not liking superhero movies, there are literally hundreds of actors who would be better and more grateful for such roles. (Although Krasinski has gotten into pretty superheroic shape for Tom Clancy’s Jack Reacher.)
Then again, the Marvel movies are extremely demanding. The superhero actors have to train for months to get into shape for each project. And when they sign on, they’re in for a roughly decade-long commitment to various sequels and tie-ins. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
You can see Blunt and Krasinski in A Quiet Place Part 2 in theaters only on May 28. You can catch Scarlett Johansson in the title role of Black Widow when it opens in theaters and as a PVOD on Disney+ on July 9.
