David Hayter Talks About His Axed Black Widow Film

Back in the 2000's Lionsgate and Marvel Entertainment were developing a live-action Black Widow movie with David Hayter set to write and direct. David talked to FemPop revealing what happened to the film and some of the plot points. A slew of poorly made and unsuccessful female led action films basically sabotaged it's progress. It would get the axe and the rights reverted back to Marvel. Later on the character was eventually added to Iron Man 2 with Scarlett Johansson in the role.

Currently Marvel Studios is open to making a solo film with Johansson and have talked about developing a new treatment with writers. Anything is possible after the likely success of the Avengers. Johansson has signed an extensive picture deal with Marvel which means that they really only have to announce it.


"What I tried to do was use the backdrop of the splintered Soviet Empire – a lawless insane asylum with four hundred some odd nuclear missile silos. It was all about loose nukes, and I felt it was very timely and very cool. Unfortunately, as I was coming up on the final draft, a number of female vigilante movies came out. We had Tomb Raider and Kill Bill, which were the ones that worked, but then we had BloodRayne and Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux. Aeon Flux didn’t open well, and three days after it opened, the studio said, “We don’t think it’s time to do this movie.” I accepted their logic in terms of the saturation of the marketplace, but it was pretty painful. I had not only invested a lot of time in that movie, but I had also named my daughter, who was born in that time period Natasha – after the lead character in Black Widow. I named my daughter after a movie that I wasn’t working on anymore."

New Black Widow Still & EW Promo Image

Clear Look At Hawkeye & New Black Widow Costumes

JustJared has posted new Avengers set images. I haven't been posting many of the Avengers set photos mainly because a majority of them are spoiler filled. These new ones are more costume based and show off the looks of Hawkeye and Black Widow.

Screengrabs From Avengers Teaser Trailer

Avengers Promo Poster Features Hawkeye & Modern Cap Costume

Someone was able to nab this cellphone pic of an Avengers promotional poster at the Licencing Expo. It's likely artwork for the Hasbro toyline as it's similar to the Thor and Captain America art that leaked last year. It does however give us a first look at Hawkeye in his Avengers costume. Along with updated looks for both Captain America and Iron Man. I'm unclear if the Iron Man armor seen in the image will actually be on screen. It's interesting to see the group together even if it's only toy promotional artwork.

The Comic-Con presence for Marvel Studios is said to be muted this year. As there will not be a promotion for Avengers. I would like to think the studio could put together a second teaser trailer just in time for Captain America.

Could This Be Black Widow's Avengers Costume?

Recently we heard that in the Avengers we would see new costumes for a majority of the cast. It was confirmed that Hawkeye, Captain America and Thor would see changes. Black Widow was also mentioned and Scarlett Johansson was sporting a new cropped Widow hairstyle recently. While looking for concept artwork I came across this image from the Iron Man 2 art book which features a different take on the Black Widow costume. The thing that caught my attention is that the unused concept art has Black Widow with a similar hairstyle that Scarlett had shown off. Could this be what Widow's new Avengers outfit will look like?

Here's a larger version of the concept artwork. You can notice this a variant and looks more like a classic SHIELD costume. The quality isn't great as it's a screen shot from a video. Also unused was Widow's classic hourglass belt which I also hope makes Avengers.

Origins Of Black Widow & Hawkeye

While we've seen brief scenes with Black Widow (Johansson) and Hawkeye (Renner) in recent Marvel films most don't know their origins. WatchMojo has put together two interesting origin videos for both Natasha and Clint giving us a bit of insight of their back stories which could be seen in Avengers or their solo films.

I personally hope they expand Widow's gadgets and her fighting abilities. Since we won't be seeing Hawkeye's classic costume I'd like that they give him his sky-cycle. It would make sense since the helicarrier is making Avengers and is similar tech from Stark Industries.

Marvel's Kevin Feige Talks Black Widow, Hawkeye & S.H.I.E.L.D Films

During a Thor interview with ThePlaylist Kevin Feige gives a bit more insight into Marvel Studios' spin-offs in development. The long talked about S.H.I.E.L.D film is mentioned along with bigger talk of Black Widow and Hawkeye solo films. I still think Widow and Hawkeye should be a team-up film instead of solo movies but you never know with Marvel.

"There’s no definitive plans, but we have started talking and talking with Scarlett about what a Widow movie could be. Internally we’ve also started thinking what a ‘Hawkeye’ movie could be, how we could continue to explore the organization [which Samuel Jackson‘s Nick Fury leads] S.H.I.E.L.D, which has a pretty big part in ‘Thor,’ smaller parts in the two ‘Iron Man’ films and has a giant part in ‘The Avengers.’ [So it’s like], what would a stand-alone “S.H.I.E.L.D.” be like? It all goes back to the comics. Sometimes the answer is—when looking at a certain run of issues— ‘no way’ and sometimes the answer is ‘maybe, let’s continue to explore it’ and certainly with Hawkeye and Black Widow those are two that we’re exploring."

Kevin also said that the next lineup for the 2013-2014 schedule will be announced later this summer which could mean Comic-Con in July. It's unknown if Marvel will have a second film released in 2012. However it's known that Iron Man 3 is set for May 3rd 2013. The list of possible films include Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Iron Fist and Luke Cage (Power Man). Sequels and spin-offs could also be candidates.

Kevin Feige Talks Post-Avengers Plans, Confirms Thor & Cap Sequels

It won't be until Comic-Con that we'll actually get the actually next line up of films but Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige is talking post-Avengers plans with IGN. It sounds like Kevin and Marvel have enough films in the works to keep fans happy for the next ten years.


CAPTAIN AMERICA 2: The film will be set in modern times but very well could have WWII flashback scenes. As writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have talked about including a few more WWII scenes in the sequel. Hydra is likely to be back with possible villains Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra and Zemo. With Sebastian Stans' contract to be in bunch of Marvel films I expect we will see a transformation from Bucky to Winter Soldier. Zemo being a mantle villain it would be nice to see a mantle hero like Union Jack also involved with the sequel.


THOR 2: Not much known here as it was just confirmed the sequel is happening. Hopefully it will be more realm focused as there a bunch of villains and mythology to explore off-Midgard (Earth). Fellow Asgardians Balder and Valkyrie have yet to be introduced along with Dark Elves, Rock Trolls and other villainous creatures. The world of Thor is rich and might be the first step for Marvel to expand our concepts of the superhero genre.

BLACK WIDOW: David Hayter (X-Men, X2) wrote a Black Widow script and was aiming to direct when it was setup at Lionsgate but was eventually scrapped. It's unknown where the project is at the moment but there is more talk of this spin-off than the others. Johansson is game as mentioned at last year's Comic-Con.

HAWKEYE: There have been plans for a Hawkeye film for years and now that Jeremy Renner is in place for the role they can finally move forward with it. I'm not sure if there was ever a script developed but I wouldn't be shocked. Personally I'd rather see a Widow/Hawkeye team-up film as they'd work better as team than in solo projects.

S.H.I.E.L.D: This one has been teased since we first got a glimpse of Nick Fury in Iron Man. It seemed that with a script by Andrew W. Marlowe (Air Force One) kicking around for years it would go soon. While it's expected Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders will be in this it's unknown if other currently cast Marvel heroes will also appear.


IRON FIST: Unlike Strange and Panther which have been in development for almost the same amount of time they actually have someone in mind for the lead. Ray Park had been attached and is still interested in the role. He's currently getting ready to return as Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe 2. Marvel recently set Rich Wilkes (xXx) to work on the film's script and is likely to be based on The Immortal run of the character being more of a martial arts film.

DOCTOR STRANGE: The only real news on this front is that Marvel has hired Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to start writing the script. The two are responsible for the Conan reboot and likely involved with it's sequel. While Patrick Dempsey (Scream 3, Transformers 3) has been campaigning to play mystical hero.


BLACK PANTHER: Wesley Snipes had been in talks with Marvel for the role but with his troubles it's unlikely that will happen. Actors like Michael Jai White (Spawn, Dark Knight), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe, The Thing) and Idris Elba (Thor, Ghost Rider 2) have been in the mix for T'Challa. Mark Bailey is currently writing the script. 


ANT-MAN: This one wasn't called out by Kevin but it's assumed with a script and director in place it will be down the production line sooner than later. There was also zero talk of Luke Cage, War Machine or Sub-Mariner.

UKNOWN-COSMIC FILM: There hasn't been a full on confirmation of which one of the cosmic epics Marvel could be working on. I would love to think this is a Silver Surfer movie but it's more than likely Killraven or World War Hulk.

Emily Blunt Explains Why She's Never Been In A Superhero Film

Emily Blunt was famously ousted as Black Widow in Iron Man 2 because of her contract with 20th Century Fox and had to give up the role. Even then she tested for a role in Captain America that would later go to Hayley Atwell. Blunt had also been rumored for a role in The Dark Knight Rises. Now Collider was able to ask her if she'd ever want to be in a superhero film and her answer is mixed.

FANDOM: Fan Made Avengers Poster

I've been following the whole culture of fan made artwork and this new Avengers poster by The Mad Butcher is one of the best I've seen.

How Marvel Should Approach The SHIELD Film: PART I [Black Widow]

I'm going to break down how I believe Marvel could be successful in bringing together the SHIELD film. While the Avengers is made up of Marvel's mightiest heroes, SHIELD on the other hand is mostly highly skilled humans. I believe while they have many superhero films there are many different types of action films they could be emulating for their human characters. Similar to the Avengers the main four characters will be have their own solo films. Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye have their own films currently in development. Hopefully this could lead up to the SHIELD film and be more of a traditional team based espionage action film. My first installment will focus on the femme fatale Natasha Romanoff better known as Black Widow and what her solo film should look like.

MY THOUGHTS: I could see Natasha sent into the world of arms-dealing to see which people are supplying HYDRA with high end technology and weapons. This might lead Widow becoming a mole in A.I.M. which could be led by Baron von Strucker. Along the way she could be pursued by Yelena Belova who is notoriously determined to kill Natasha. I also believe the involvement of superpowers should really be limited here. Like the Iron Man series real world technology and weapons should be the threat. In this case armament of a new HYDRA organization which is looking to terrorize the world. I'm unsure how HYDRA is going to be referenced in Captain America but A.I.M. could be great way to slowly introduce the SHIELD nemesis.

MOVIE INFLUENCES: I'd like to see the studio to use the [Martin Campbell] Bond angle with the Black Widow film. I feel that a stright up spy film could end up defining the character along with showing off her espionage and fighting skills. If they choose to include her origin being raised as an assassin they could barrow elements from La Femme Nikita.

WHO SHOULD DIRECT?: Well my personal preference would be someone who hasn't made a big splash in the world of comic book or action films. My first thought while going over movie influences was of director Andrew Niccol. He has had a decent track record of sleek and interesting films. My favorite of his films being Lord of War and Gattaca. I feel he could bring a wonderful energy and vision to the character.

Marvel Moving Forward With Black Widow Solo Film

Back before Comic-Con it was still unconfirmed if Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow would end up in the final lineup of The Avengers. Now with her role in the superhero epic cemented it looks like Marvel Studios is indeed committed to the heroine. Kevin Feige recently told the reporters (MTV) during the Iron Man 2 DVD press conference they are pursing Scarlett to reprise her role as Black Widow in her own solo film post-Avengers.

"We've already started discussions with Scarlett about the idea of a solo movie and have begun putting together concepts,"....."'The Avengers' comes first."