That didn't take long. Previously Sam Jackson confirmed that Nick Fury would have a female sidekick in
Avengers.
HeatVision confirms that
Morena Baccarin (V) will be testing for the unnamed SHIELD role. Baccarin seems too unknown for the role which would include signing a nine-picture option. Her connection to director Joss Whedon might be coming into play as she co-starred in Serenity.
Other actresses are also working out deals to test include
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim, The Thing, Die Hard 4, Death Proof),
Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield) and
Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother). Winstead has my vote out of the bunch as she's been involved with a lot more action roles. MEW had also been rumored to be in the mix for the Lois Lane role.
Considering all the actresses are brunettes it narrows down the role. It's either Janet van Dyne (The Wasp) or Maria Hill. Hill is more a sidekick to Nick Fury but Wasp could also be introduced. Considering Wasp is a founding member of the Avengers and should be included in the film.
There's also a connection to Ant-Man with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as she previously worked with Edgar Wright on Scott Pilgrim. Wright is currently working on a new draft of the Ant-Man script and might be involved with the casting of The Wasp. Since the heroine will be featured in Ant-Man as well.
