The amount of talent Marvel has assembled for Iron Man 2 is pretty impressive. You have actor/writer Justin Theroux penning the script, multihyphenate Jon Favreau behind the camera, and A-list talent like Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson reprising their roles from the stupendously awesome original (with Don Cheadle stepping in for Terrence Howard, to boot). Then, then, you add Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke as villains and you have the formula for one hell of a sequel. And let’s be serious: Rourke was born to play a villain in a superhero flick. Just look at that face! It was meant to be.
To me, there seems to be only one weak link: the just-confirmed Scarlett Johansson. Sure, she’s a fine actress given the right role and is guaranteed to look sultry in a skintight leathery costume. But her character, Black Widow, is a Russian spy. That’s right, Russian. The thought of Johansson attempting a Russian accent sends chills down my spine, PopWatchers, and not in a good way. It certainly doesn’t do Johnasson any favors that we’ve been imagining Emily Blunt in the role for quite some time (who had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts). Blunt surely would’ve killed and could have used the profile boost. But, I’ll look at this from a glass-half-full perspective: While Johansson has floundered in big-budget blockbusters (The Spirit or The Island, anyone?) in the past, this plum role is her chance to shine.
Regardless, are you as jazzed for Iron Man 2 as I am? Is Johnasson a good choice to play Black Widow? And can you believe we have to wait until May 7 of 2010 to see it?
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Mickey Rourke .. YES
Scarlett Johansson … SUCKS!
i have been waiting for iron man 2 ever since may 4th when i saw the first one!! i just hope that rdj and scarlett dont have any romance, ugh!! he needs to be with pepper and only pepper!!
Who cares who’s going to be in this one? My question is, who will be in Iron Man 3, which will inevitably be a huge suckfest (i.e., Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3).
Emily Blunt would have been SOOOOOO much better. I’ll try not to think of that when I definitely see this on opening day. Try…
Yep, who cares who’s playing Black Widow? — There are too many characters in this film!
Aww jeez, does Scarlett Freakin’ Johansson have to be in everything?!? I was looking forward to IM2 but now, not so much.
Johansson is the only element I’m concerned about. Fingers crossed she’s replaced at the last minute, because everything else about this movie’s casting is so good. But having said that, I wasn’t looking forward to Paltrow in the first one and she surprised me with her most enjoyable – or should that be least irritating? – performance in years. Maybe Favreau will draw the same kind of thing out of Johansson. We can but hope…
another year??? nooooooo! i absolutely can’t wait!
She hasn’t been good since Lost in Translation. And with a Russian Accent? PUH-LEASE. She was TERRIBLE in the Prestige, where she had to have an English accent, and Russian is even harder! She flails completely if she has to act in the slightest bit. This is bad, bad bad all around.
Martine McCutcheon would have been a very sexy Black Widow.
Scarlett will do as good a job with her accent as Kevin Costner did with his Robin Hood British accent. I imagine the Bullwinkle cartoons are just pouring through Scarlett’s DVD player in preparation for her upcoming role so she can make “Beeg trouble for moose and squirrel.”
I thought John Cho was cast as The Mandarin? Is that storyline now out since there seems to be too many villains already?
These film producers are gluttons for punishment.Putting this chick in the role of a Russian spy is so utterly absurb and she will never pull it off..Like you said,do the spirit and the Island ring a bell? She is not an actress that can handle this role and I have deep rooted suspicion she will be removed from the role.
I find it hard to believe that they even bothered to search for a Russian or Eastern European actress at all. They did this purely on star power. I will wait for the trailer, but if she sounds 1/2 as bad with a fake Russian accent (or if they change the character) I wont bother going. Likely they wont miss my money, but I would.
Who cares? I doubt this will be that difficult of a role to play. It’s not like they cast her as Mother Theresa or something. It’s a comic book film. She’ll do fine (or as good as she can do). Looking forward to it though!