Emily Blunt‘s ‘Black Widow‘ ‘What If’ has become one of the most painful alternate scenarios in the history of Hollywood, and the actress has been more forthcoming about the whole situation than ever before. While she was indeed the top choice of Marvel to play the character of Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel blockbuster ‘Iron Man 2,’ she did not turn down the part because she wasn’t interested. Quite the contrary. While she did want to play the part, she simply couldn’t. The reason for this is quite simple: a contract. When she signed up for ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ the production house of 20th Century Fox had locked her into an optional picture deal. This meant that the production house had the option of calling her up to star in another of their movies. Just as she was finalizing the deal with Marvel to star as Natasha Romanoff in ‘Iron Man 2,’ Fox called her up to star in ‘Gulliver’s Travels‘ with Jack Black. “I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do ‘Gulliver’s Travels,'” she admitted.
Scheduling conflicts ultimately closed the door
It’s crazy to think of how different the Marvel universe could be. Ultimately, Johansson did define Black Widow as a vulnerable yet charming character. However, at the time, sources indicated Blunt’s Natasha would have been a much colder character, more stoic and edgy, with a thick Russian accent and a traditional spy flair from the get-go.
Blunt herself has admitted she was “obsessed” with the first Iron Man film and heartbroken at missing out on the experience of working with Robert Downey Jr. One can’t help but think how different her career could have been if she had played Natasha Romanoff. Imagine landing your dream break as a superheroine only to end up making a family-friendly film starring a giant in a tiny kingdom instead.
Blunt, to her credit, has always been gracious about the situation, commenting, “The best girl got it,” when talking of Johansson.
It’s interesting to note that this was Blunt’s first near-miss at a Marvel character. She was also up for the part of Peggy Carter before Hayley Atwell landed the role. Yet again, in 2026, fans are lobbying for her to be a part of the Marvel universe, particularly as Sue Storm in Fantastic Four. Blunt has written this off as “fan-casting,” although she did confess she might don the character if they were “cool enough.”
Some multiverse out there definitely has Emily Blunt as Black Widow. And we’re still talking about this.
