Entertainment Weekly has just revealed 2 images of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in
Iron Man 2. Get your first look at the Comic-Con preview issue below.
Entertainment Weekly's second annual Comic-Con preview package features
Iron Man 2 on the cover, and inside it's jam-packed with exclusive first looks at highly anticipated TV shows and movies. After Iron Man blasted Robert Downey Jr. back to stardom, the superhero returns to the big screen to battle new villain Mickey Rourke, size up Scarlett Johansson, and prove the first time wasn't a fluke. The success of
Iron Man (which opened at $99 million and went on to take in $318 million) caught many people by surprise, and now four months later, Downey is no longer the underdog. "There are a lot more invisible eyes on us now," he says.
When Marvel Studios first announced the sequel, no one was sure what the movie would be about. Downey, director Jon Favreau, screenwriter Justin Theroux, and the rest of the creative team struck upon the idea of introducing two very different foes for Stark. On one side is Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), a fast-talking weapons manufacturer who fancies himself the next Tony Stark; on the other, Vanko, who, while incarcerated in a Russian prison, creates his own battle-suit, which shoots devastating, whip-like beams. Hammer and Whiplash join forces to take Downey's character Tony Stark down. Rourke, for his part, wanted to instill some lightness into the role of the heavy. "I told Favreau, 'I don't want to just play him as a one-dimensional p----,'" Rourke says. "He let me have a cockatoo, who I talk to and get drunk with while I'm making my suit."
Just as the deals were being hammered out, Terrence Howard - who had played Stark's best friend - fell out of the sequel in a public salary dispute. The role was re-cast, with Don Cheadle stepping in. "We had to make some tough deals," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says. "When they got public, you go, 'That sucks. OK, you want a peek behind the curtain? Here you are!'" Says Cheadle, "Terrence and I couldn't be more different. We address it head-on in the movie in one exchange. We're not trying to fool people."(Cheadle admits he didn't know much about Marvel's superhero before the first movie came out: "I always thought Iron Man was a robot.")
Adding more flesh and blood to the new movie, Scarlett Johansson joined the cast as Stark's mysterious new assistant, Natasha, who has an alter ego of her own, Black Widow. That introduction inevitably sparks romantic tension between Stark and former assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who's been promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. "The men want it to be, like, 'Ooh, the girls are fighting over Tony,' but it's not as standard as that," says Paltrow. "There's a weird male catfight fantasy." Downey doesn't disagree: "Our signature as a superhero franchise is that we're horny. Not, like, can't-bring-your-kids horny, but just...horny."
With these new ingredients, the question remains whether
Iron Man 2 will soar like the first film or show signs of rust when it hits theaters next May 7. "People are going to be more critical," says Downey. "That's their prerogative....In a way, there's no way to win, except to win. Big." (Cover Story, Page 24)
Hitting theaters May 7th, 2010, the Jon Favreau-directed
Iron Man 2 stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling and John Slattery.
80 Comments
taking Howard out isnt a bad thing, Cheadle is a major upgrade in my opinion
---hahaha. at least it won't be too typical
"Our signature as a superhero franchise is that we're horny. Not, like, can't-bring-your-kids horny, but just...horny."
And it's funny that Cheadle says that he always though that Iron Man was a robot...and when Rourke said he doesn't want his character to be a pussy.
haha
Anyway, I hope they give out a little more info soon about Sam Rockwell and what his character will be like.
Though you can totally see her blonde roots. LOL! :P
That should be pretty funny lmao
It sounds like they've set up a pretty good story, with Hammer and Whiplash joining forces, tension between Natasha(Widow) and Pepper...Natasha being in the film alone is noteworthy, doesn't matter if she's part of a love triangle. I wonder what her intro means for the Avengers?...will she show up there? Can't wait to see how it all plays out.