With Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell in negotiations to play key villains in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man sequel, he and Marvel Entertainment are now on the look out for the right woman to play femme fatale Black Widow.
Black Widow, or Natasha Romanoff, is a Russian super-spy co-created by Stan Lee who first made her appearance back in the ’60s. Over the years she’s vacillated between being a hero and villain, in current comics she is an Avenger.
Emily Blunt has emerged as the front runner to play the vicious woman in tight black leather. This will be a big change of pace for Blunt, who’s credits include The Devil Wears Prada, The Jane Austen Book Club and Charlie Wilson’s War. Currently she is working with Benicio Del Toro in the Joe Johnston directed The Wolf Man for Universal.
Marvel would not comment on the Black Widow casting. The Justin Theroux scripted Iron Man 2 will begin production in the spring for release by Paramount in summer 2010.
Source: Variety
